Editing David Atlee Phillips (section)

==World War II and Early Career==
In 1943, Phillips enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces, training as a nose gunner on B-24 bombers. During a mission over Austria in 1944, his plane was shot down, and he was captured by German forces. Held as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft III, a Luftwaffe camp near Sagan, Poland (famous for the “Great Escape”), Phillips endured harsh conditions until his liberation in 1945. His wartime experience, including rudimentary German and survival skills, honed his resilience and adaptability. After the war, he briefly resumed acting in New York, performing in summer stock, and married Virginia Huffman in 1946, with whom he had five children: David, Robert, Christopher, Ann, and Jane.

In 1948, Phillips moved to Santiago, Chile, to pursue journalism, purchasing and editing the South Pacific Mail, an English-language newspaper. His time in Chile immersed him in Latin American politics and culture, providing valuable contacts and fluency in Spanish. Financial struggles with the newspaper led him to explore new opportunities, setting the stage for his intelligence career.