caduceus
US Veteran
I am sharing this article written and printed in our local newspaper several years ago. Permission has been given by the author to do so.
Memorial Day and my drifting thoughts to events that have happen in distant past brought forth these memories of a man I was privileged to have known in his waning years.
What a gentle man. It haunts me that he passed quietly, not another person with him but his own memories.
For all who served, to those who paid the ultimate price, to all the families touched ...... Here is a short glimpse of his life.
" Every morn bought forth a noble chance and every chance brought forth a noble knight."
" A Noble knight died in Greenville Tex.(my addition) last week: Lieutenant Colonel Walter L. Miller Jr., United States Army, retired.
There wasn't much fanfare or publicity. That's the way the Colonel (as we called him) would have wanted it. That's the way most heroes want it. That's one of the reasons heroes are heroes: they let others have the glory.
We don't seem to have as many real heroes as we used to have. Perhaps that's good in a way. all to often heroes come from adverse circumstances; depressions, natural disasters and wars.
Colonel Miller served in two wars: World War II and Korea. His unit the 101st Airborne, is known to any who appreciate the sacrifices made by our veterans.
The Colonel was in Normandy on D-Day and in the worst of the worst of the European campaigns, including the Battle of the Bulge and the defense of Bastogne. He was wounded several times and salt on those wounds came from the injuries and deaths of his friends; men he risked his life to save, and save some he did.
Changing the Colonel's life more than anything was leading the battalion that liberated the German prison camp, Laudsgau. Colonel Miller literally opened the main gate himself to liberate its inhabitants, only to find their spirits had been set free by Nazi gas and bullets and their bodies imprisoned in ditches. Some memories of war are worse than others.
Not that the Colonel would talk about any of that without persistent questions from a few of us who knew and admired him. Real heroes don't brag, you know. But who better to tell what happen " over there" than one who served? The Colonel didn't need to tell his story: we needed to hear it. " When can their glory fade?"
Medals are not just compensation for the pain, suffering and nightmares of combat, but if they were, the Colonel would not have suffered those curses of survival all combat veterans share. Fortunately, there were others like him, but never enough.
Nonetheless, the Colonel was honored with two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts and countless other citations of merit from this country and other nations. The government form that contains his 21 years of service didn't have enough spaces for his accomplishments, so the Army clerk who typed his final record added a second page so seldom needed, even for career officers.
Even in the last years, in his dotage, as a frail man, he had the kindest of demeanor and was always cheerful. He never complained about his failing, yet courageous heart. There was an inner strength to this once strong warrior that never left him until death.
Col. Miller buried his first wife and only child, a son. He accepted those deaths as God's will and went on to do God's work by encouraging and helping others.
Until the end, which came alone, he cared for his second wife when he was probably the more ill. He did so because that's what a man is supposed to do. Heroes do their duty, you know.
I think the final two verses from Longfellow's " Go Forth to Life" would be an appropriate epitaph for the Colonel:"
" Go on from innocence of youth
To manly pureness, manly truth;
God's angles still are near to save,
And god himself doth the brave.
Then forth to life, oh! child of Earth,
Be worthy of they heavenly birth,
For noble service thou art here;
Thy brother help, thy God Revere!"
Author James. E. Nicholson, M. D. USMC/Korea.
Memorial Day and my drifting thoughts to events that have happen in distant past brought forth these memories of a man I was privileged to have known in his waning years.
What a gentle man. It haunts me that he passed quietly, not another person with him but his own memories.
For all who served, to those who paid the ultimate price, to all the families touched ...... Here is a short glimpse of his life.
" Every morn bought forth a noble chance and every chance brought forth a noble knight."
" A Noble knight died in Greenville Tex.(my addition) last week: Lieutenant Colonel Walter L. Miller Jr., United States Army, retired.
There wasn't much fanfare or publicity. That's the way the Colonel (as we called him) would have wanted it. That's the way most heroes want it. That's one of the reasons heroes are heroes: they let others have the glory.
We don't seem to have as many real heroes as we used to have. Perhaps that's good in a way. all to often heroes come from adverse circumstances; depressions, natural disasters and wars.
Colonel Miller served in two wars: World War II and Korea. His unit the 101st Airborne, is known to any who appreciate the sacrifices made by our veterans.
The Colonel was in Normandy on D-Day and in the worst of the worst of the European campaigns, including the Battle of the Bulge and the defense of Bastogne. He was wounded several times and salt on those wounds came from the injuries and deaths of his friends; men he risked his life to save, and save some he did.
Changing the Colonel's life more than anything was leading the battalion that liberated the German prison camp, Laudsgau. Colonel Miller literally opened the main gate himself to liberate its inhabitants, only to find their spirits had been set free by Nazi gas and bullets and their bodies imprisoned in ditches. Some memories of war are worse than others.
Not that the Colonel would talk about any of that without persistent questions from a few of us who knew and admired him. Real heroes don't brag, you know. But who better to tell what happen " over there" than one who served? The Colonel didn't need to tell his story: we needed to hear it. " When can their glory fade?"
Medals are not just compensation for the pain, suffering and nightmares of combat, but if they were, the Colonel would not have suffered those curses of survival all combat veterans share. Fortunately, there were others like him, but never enough.
Nonetheless, the Colonel was honored with two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts and countless other citations of merit from this country and other nations. The government form that contains his 21 years of service didn't have enough spaces for his accomplishments, so the Army clerk who typed his final record added a second page so seldom needed, even for career officers.
Even in the last years, in his dotage, as a frail man, he had the kindest of demeanor and was always cheerful. He never complained about his failing, yet courageous heart. There was an inner strength to this once strong warrior that never left him until death.
Col. Miller buried his first wife and only child, a son. He accepted those deaths as God's will and went on to do God's work by encouraging and helping others.
Until the end, which came alone, he cared for his second wife when he was probably the more ill. He did so because that's what a man is supposed to do. Heroes do their duty, you know.
I think the final two verses from Longfellow's " Go Forth to Life" would be an appropriate epitaph for the Colonel:"
" Go on from innocence of youth
To manly pureness, manly truth;
God's angles still are near to save,
And god himself doth the brave.
Then forth to life, oh! child of Earth,
Be worthy of they heavenly birth,
For noble service thou art here;
Thy brother help, thy God Revere!"
Author James. E. Nicholson, M. D. USMC/Korea.
