I, Phillip Lyle Blake, was born on March 28, 1938 in Peoria, IL to Ellis Dillon Blake and Gladys Lyle Blake, the second of four sons. My father, at that time a National Guard sergeant, was commissioned, served in the Pacific during World War II as an infantry battalion commander, and eventually retired from the Regular Army as a colonel. I grew up as an Army brat and received my high school education at Texas Military Institute (TMI) in San Antonio, TX. My father’s example and my life as a “brat” set me on a path to West Point. I received an honor military school appointment and, upon graduating from TMI in 1956, entered the Academy.
My background prepared me well for life as a cadet at West Point, although plebe year and the academic program were still challenging. I did progress sufficiently to become a cadet officer my First Class year and was on the Engineer Team for the annual Goat-Engineer Football Game in 1958. I also made lifelong friends with several of my 1960 classmates.
I selected Infantry as my branch and served in that branch throughout my career. Significant assignments include my first, the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, KY, which is where I met my wife; my three trips to Vietnam; and my tour as a battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment in the 24th Infantry Division. I commanded three airborne infantry companies, the last of which was Company A, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 12th Cavalry Regiment in the 1st Cavalry Division (Airborne) in Vietnam in 1966-67, having served as a battalion adjutant for the first four months of the 12-month tour. My first Vietnam experience consisted of a four-month temporary duty tour in 1965, followed by two more months after the entire 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate) deployed to Vietnam from Okinawa in May 1965. It was the first Army ground combat unit deployed, initially on a temporary duty basis. Since I was already on orders for the Infantry Officer Advanced Course at Fort Benning, GA, I did not serve a full tour. After that course, as well as Pathfinder School, I volunteered to return in 1966. My last assignment in Vietnam was as a battalion advisor in the ARVN Airborne Division and then the aide-de-camp to the COMUSMACV. He and I departed on the final day of U.S. involvement, March 29, 1973. I retired from active duty as a colonel in 1988 and returned initially to my hometown of San Antonio but moved after a year to take the position of commandant of cadets at Marion Military Institute (MMI), AL. After four years there my wife and I settled in her hometown of Clarksville, TN because of her family obligations. I eventually took a parttime job as an Army training exercise controller with Logicon, Inc., for a few years.
In addition to my B.S. degree from West Point, I have a M.A. degree in English from the University of Virginia, which was followed by a three-year tour at USMA as an instructor in the Department of English. After my Army retirement, I acquired a teaching certificate from Southwest Texas State University, which led to a year teaching high school English in Boerne, TX before going to the job at MMI in Alabama. I kept current while at MMI by teaching college freshman English as an extra duty. After the move to Tennessee, I taught freshman English again at Austin Peay State University for a year.
Reda Glendon Wallace and I were married on September 8, 1962 in a chapel at Fort Campbell. Our first child, Susan Elizabeth, was born in 1964 on Okinawa while I was assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate). Our son, Matthew Lyle, was born in 1967 in Clarksville while I was in Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division. Matt has a career as an educator at the secondary school level, both as a teacher of Spanish and as an administrator. He has a doctorate in education, and his wife is also an educator, serving as a school counselor. Susan is a flight attendant married to an attorney in California. Matt has a daughter and two sons. Susan has a son and a daughter.
Retired life was peaceful. I was active in the Episcopal Church in several capacities, including as a lay reader and vestry member. I enjoyed reading and exercising. The latter activity used to consist of running (later changed to cycling) and upper-body work with weights. Reda and I enjoyed traveling to visit family and friends. Starting in 2006, we attended reunions of the 12th Cavalry Regiment and the 1st Cavalry Division. On December 1, 2018, we moved back to San Antonio and settled into a house in a retirement center about a block from my brother Bob and a short drive from our son, Matt, and his family. My brother Steve also bought a house in the same area.
Before my father went overseas during World War II, he gave me an Armed Forces New Testament with the following inscription dated January 1, 1942: “May you always lead a clean, straight life.” I attempted to do so, and I hope to be remembered for that and for being a loving husband, father, and grandfather.
— Self-written