Rice, Philip Sidney

Born June 22, 1878, Philip S. Rice attended Princeton University as a member of the class of 1901, although only briefly. In 1898 he tried to enlist in the U.S. Army and join the Spanish American War, but failed the physical test because of a heart condition.

Rice sailed to France from New York on May 1917 on board the French liner Chicago to join the American Field Service. He was assigned to Section One and drove ambulance #13. He served first in the Champagne, then at Verdun. After a breakdown in September he spent some time on medical leave in Paris and at the end of the month, he rejoined the Section in the Alsace.

First printed privately as "An Ambulance Driver in France" in 1918, his war memoir, "An American Crusader at Verdun", was published by the Princeton University Press that same year.

Phil Rice was awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery and a Division citation at Verdun.

He died of a heart attack on March 9, 1927.