Roy was born on December 13, 1911 in South Beloit, IL., to Henry Lewis Phillips and Nellie Alice (Hamel) Phillips-Bumsted. Roy's parents divorced in May 1914 and Roy's mother moved Roy and his sister Mildred to Omaha, NE where he grew up and later joined the service. Roy was assigned to the 15th Air Force, 746th Bomber Squadron, 456th Bomber Group (Heavy), he was a top turret gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber. S SGt Phillips plane was shot down by enemy flak over Mitrovica, Yugoslavia on November 5, 1944. Roy's body was listed as "unrecoverable" and is listed as MIA at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial in Florence, Italy.