JONATHAN Phillips needs Donald Trump to return to The White House.
The former Marine simply cannot thank Trump enough after signing the VA Choice bill in 2017, which helped ease the pain of millions of his fellow veterans searching for critical physical and mental assistance.
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“Donald Trump saved my life,” Phillips told The U.S. Sun in a wide-ranging, emotional interview. “As a veteran, I want him as my President.”
TOUR OF DUTY
In 2007, at the age of just 19, Phillips was approaching the end of his first tour of duty in Iraq.
It had been a tumultuous, painful experience. He witnessed brutal murders and horrifying scenes that will forever be seared into his soul.
“I held my best friend, John Hill, as he died, burned alive in my arms,” he said.
“Just a few months before, a couple of soldiers had been captured at a checkpoint, castrated alive, and then burned.”
The rookie Marine rifleman says everyone was briefed about Iraqi fighters trying to capture American soldiers for propaganda purposes.
According to Phillips, some troops were using Ambien to battle the demons and keep them alert and ready for action.
There were, however, a mountain of problems.
The George W. Bush administration was being heavily criticized for their handling of the invasion, with soldiers on the frontline “terrified to even fire our weapons” for fear of government reprisals.
“We were severely undermanned and lacked enough troops for our area of operations,” Phillips continued.
“The rules of engagement were a nightmare—they made it impossible to fight the enemy effectively. Those restrictions emboldened the enemy, which led to countless American and coalition deaths.”
“Anyone who made a questionable call was relieved of duty to set an example, which contributed to PTSD and the ongoing suicide epidemic among veterans.”
NIGHTMARE SCENARIO
Tensions were at boiling point, reaching a life-changing climax for Phillips on January 20, 2007.
His group of Marines were ambushed at an Iraqi police station, and a rooftop firefight ensued.
It was, as Phillips graphically recalled, pure chaos.
Sirens from Iraqi cop cars were blaring. Phillips opened fire, an action which was “following orders.”
“In a nighttime firefight, you have your rounds, enemy rounds, flashing lights from Iraqi police vehicles, and the Iraqi police firing their weapons in all directions,” he explained.
“Then a few machine gun nests are opening fire in several directions—it’s chaotic.”
A policeman had been killed – the US Marines had the use of night vision goggles, which was advantageous for them – and the blame game began.
Phillips recalls that two weeks before the incident, naval investigators were brought in to deal with precisely the kind of nightmare scenario that unfolded that fateful night.
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“They targeted someone to blame and interrogated us all,” Phillips, from Arlington, Massachusetts, said.
“We hadn’t slept in weeks, and they used that against us.”
“I was a designated marksman and had a night vision scope on my machine gun, which allowed me to look for specific targets. This guy was nowhere near where he was supposed to be.”
“I was protecting the Iraqi policemen who were running that way while this guy was running towards them, completely isolated. This also highlighted their lack of training and camaraderie.”
COURT BATTLES RAGING
Phillips was interrogated but claims none of the interviews were recorded, and the statements were presented based on their notes.
He was hauled back to base camp, questioned some more, and then, three days later, was hit with a national security order claiming he was a threat to national security with the risk of affecting war policy.
His dad, a lawyer, and his mom, who was suffering from illness at the time, weren’t even notified.
“Dad showed up, demanding my medical and military records,” he said.
“The Pentagon panicked, and within 38 days, they reversed the national security order, which had labeled me as a ‘psychotic individual.’
“They released me from pretrial confinement pending court martial.”
The charges, however, were only partially reversed.
The case went to a military tribunal, which, Phillips said, was the “most unconstitutional thing I’ve ever experienced.”
He says an Army National Guard individual who testified for the prosecution, despite having been injured and missing part of his head from an RPG hit, couldn’t even recognize him “from 15 feet away.”
“The lengths they went to destroy my character were incredible,” Phillips said.
His mom, now suffering from terminal cancer, was “berated” on the witness stand, which inexorably added to the pain, he claimed.
“They made her cry,” he said.
“The judge had to pause the proceedings several times because of the issue of Providence. He said, ‘This guy’s not… there’s no charges here, there’s no guilt here.'”
Phillips, who has written a book – The Fifth General Order – about his ordeal, which will be out on November 16, said an agreement was made that a full honorable discharge would be given to “keep me quiet.”
“But only on the condition that a two-year prison sentence be served,” he admitted.
He says the prosecution “wanted to drop the charges to basically nothing” in a bid to save face and hope the situation went away.
But once the Pentagon became involved, there was no chance of avoiding jail time.
“The judge was very uncomfortable and had to take several recesses, go behind closed doors with the prosecution and defense, and talk about it,” Phillips recalled.
“The questions just got more and more absurd. It basically got to the point where the judge had to remove all firefight context from the situation and basically just say, ‘I shot a guy.’
“That way, he could accept the plea agreement. It was one of the most bizarre cases you could have imagined.”
DARKEST NIGHTMARE
Phillips said he was thrown straight into solitary confinement, stuck in a dark hole for 10 months at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, barely getting fresh air, and routinely bitten by rats as he tried to sleep on a steel rack with a wafer-thin mat that was supposed to be a bed.
“I would often wake up screaming,” he admitted with a shudder.
He was convinced the mental agony dished out in solitary confinement was a “very convenient” narrative for the authorities who had tried to accuse him of being mentally unstable at the time of the shooting, which sparked this whole nightmare.
Phillips would grind through the hours playing mental games, placing a shirt over his eyes, and going “into my own reality.”
Ten long months were spent in the darkest of holes before he was taken to a standard prison.
The officials, however, struggled to deal with his issues.
“They just sent me to the psych ward for a few months and just deferred me to a psych ward until they could eventually retire me medically and just throw me to the Department of Veterans Affairs on the civilian side,” he admitted.
Desperate for intensive, professional mental health care, Phillips claims the only resources available were a few bottles of medication and six weeks of talk therapy with an intern.
Once that finished, he says he was “left to fend for myself with a cocktail of drugs.”
“It was terrible,” he said.
FRESH HOPE
He was at pains to point out that the VA tried its best to help and that the people he encountered there were as helpful as possible.
But their hands were tied when it came to resources.
The U.S. Sun contacted the Veterans Association for comment but didn’t hear back.
The struggles with PTSD and associated trauma were tough to bear.
When Trump, however, expanded the VA Choice program with the Mission Act in 2017, Phillips’ life, and many of his fellow heroes, was changed forever.
The move by the then-President in his first term allowed veterans to seek private care in the civilian sector to rehabilitate themselves, despite some protests from the VA, which claimed they were unsure how to implement the changes.
“Eventually, I fought hard for it and got connected with a great organization called Serenity Mental Health. The past three years have been transformative for me,” Phillips said.
“The veterans have poured out their sweat and blood and tears for this country for so long, and it’s time that they’re recognized, and it’s time that we now take care of them and take care of them properly,” Trump said after signing the bill into law.
“This bill will extend and improve the Veterans Choice Program so that more veterans can see the doctor of their choice … and don’t have to wait and travel long distances for VA care. Some people have to travel five or eight hours, and they’ll have to do it every week and even worse. It’s not going to happen anymore.”
BIDEN DOWNTURN
However, the change when Joe Biden won the 2020 election wasn’t helpful.
He claims the VA’s willingness to implement the private care option decreased “noticeably.”
“That administration has consistently made it difficult for me to access private care, trying to scale down the program despite its success,” he explained. “I theorize they might not want strong American servicemen to return confident. Plus, there’s a financial aspect—they see veterans as expendable and are unwilling to devote resources to us.”
“Trump made significant efforts from day one to fulfill his campaign promises regarding veterans, while the current administration seems to have different priorities,” he added. “I’ve been continually fighting for my right to therapy, which is a daily struggle. My private psychiatrist is astonished by how much we must fight for basic care.”
According to data, suicide rates among active-duty soldiers have increased in 2024, with veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan the group that seems most at risk.
Phillips will never stop fighting to have the best care available – and is praying Trump is re-elected this week.
“I won’t stand by while I lose more friends,” he stressed. “Recently, one of my squad members took his life at home. This issue should not be a partisan topic—it’s a crisis that requires urgent attention.”
“While Trump may be demonized, he fought for veterans’ rights. I think he’ll return to implementing the changes he started in 2017. He’ll have more momentum this time, which could significantly improve veterans’ mental health resources.”
“It’s an issue that transcends party lines. I feel like I’ve experienced a modern resurrection; I could have easily given up at many dark points, but I am responsible to my fellow veterans to stop this madness.”
Read more on the Scottish Sun
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
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