Phillips, Matthew Britten

Matthew Britten Phillips was a 27-year-old soldier from Jasper, Georgia. He served with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, based at Camp Ederle in Vicenza, Italy, before deploying to Afghanistan.

According to U.S. Department of Defense records, Corporal Phillips died on July 13, 2008, from wounds sustained in a hostile incident at Forward Operating Base Fenty in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province. The base, near the city of Jalalabad, was a key logistics and operational hub for coalition forces.

Phillips's death occurred during a period of escalating violence in the Afghanistan war, known as Operation Enduring Freedom. By 2008, insurgent tactics, including improvised explosive devices and direct attacks on military installations, were intensifying, contributing to a rise in U.S. and coalition casualties that year.

His death was listed in official casualty releases. He was posthumously promoted from Specialist to Corporal. A local newspaper in Georgia reported on his funeral service in Jasper, noting his family's grief and his status as a hometown casualty of the war.

Corporal Phillips is memorialized on the 173rd Airborne Brigade's roll of honor and is listed on the Afghanistan War casualty roster maintained by the Pentagon. His name appears on memorials in Georgia and at sites dedicated to fallen paratroopers of his unit.

Corporal Phillips was killed during Operation Enduring Freedom (2001–2014). The conflict concluded in December 2014. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.

Among those documented in the same conflict: Andrews, Evander Earl, Edmunds, Jonn Joseph, Stonesifer, Kristofor Tif, Davis, Bryant Leroy.

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