The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs will hold its 26th Anniversary Desert Storm Remembrance Ceremony on Tuesday. Each year, the department honors soldiers from the state killed in the first Gulf War.
Among those honored each year is a pilot from the Quad Cities. Air Force Captain Stephen Phillis from Rock Island died in February of 1991 - during a mission over Kuwait, he was trying to provide cover for his wingman who'd been shot down, when his plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile.
Phillis graduated from Rock Island Alleman High School, and the Air Force Academy. He's one of fourteen military personnel from Illinois who died during the first Gulf War.
Tuesday's ceremony in Springfield will be held in the rotunda of the state capitol building, beginning at 11:30 am.
Tuesday is the 26th anniversary of the cease fire that ended the war in 1991.
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