Phil Keith

Phil Keith

Phil Keith is the author of Blackhorse Riders: A Desperate Last Stand, an Extraordinary Rescue Mission, and the Vietnam Battle America Forgot, a columnist for the Southampton Press, a magazine feature writer, and the author of two fiction novels.

He has a degree in History from Harvard and has done Masters work at the Naval War College and Long Island University.

After graduation from Harvard he went into the Navy and became a Naval Aviator. During three tours in Vietnam, he served with distinction and was awarded, among other decorations, the Air Medal for Gallantry, the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Commendation Medal. After his wartime service he rose to the rank of Commander in the Naval Reserves.

As a business executive, he worked for two Fortune 500 firms holding several senior positions in sales and marketing. He was also a COO and CEO for several technology firms specializing in the sales and marketing of high-end educational software products. In 1999 Phil was selected for the Executive in Residence Program at Long Island University’s Business Division and for the next six years taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in business at LIU, Southampton.

In 2007 Phil accepted an assignment to teach at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence.

He serves on the Board of the Long Island Authors Group and lives in Southampton, N.Y., with his partner Laura and son Pierce.
Focus On: Vietnam War
Why We Served
By: Phil Keith | February 7, 2012
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“Hell, why not? If I don’t sign up, some other poor bastard will have to go in my place.”

That’s what “Robin” Henderson said to his friends when they chided him about actually volunteering to serve in Vietnam. As it turned out, there were more than a few who felt the same way.

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Focus On: Vietnam War
Alpha Troop: Men of Iron, Steeds of Steel
By: Phil Keith | February 1, 2012
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Somebody’s in serious trouble, Capt. John Poindexter told himself as he sat, sweltering, in the stifling heat.

The long, tall Texan, twenty-five, was trying to steal a few minutes of downtime after a horrible night of pain, terror, and numbing death among the members of his cavalry troop.

It was well over a hundred degrees, even under the cover of the canvas tent-top that extended from the rear of Poindexter’s M-577 (a specialized ACAV, or armored cavalry assault vehicle). Seconds before, the battalion radio inside the baking command vehicle behind him had crackled to life.

Racer Two-Nine was calling Stone Mountain Two-Nine and insistently asking for help.

The choices were few and ugly: Do nothing until ordered, in which case the men of Charlie Company would continue to suffer and die without hope; or mount up and charge off into the jungle with every prospect of either getting ambushed along the way or being chopped up in the same meat grinder that was chewing through the ranks of Charlie.

The sweat rolled off Poindexter’s brow, but it was no longer only because of the heat of the day.

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