Army hero of Vietnam War
dies at age 55
St. Petersburg, Florida
"A legendary Vietnam War hero passes away
at Bay Pines Veterans Hospital."
By George Coryell of the Tampa Tribune
When he was told six weeks ago that he had only a short
time to live, Franklin Douglas Miller didn't blanch.
"His concern was not for himself, but how to take care
of his kids," said Jeff Barber, vice chairman of the
Special Operations Memorial Foundation. The retired Army
Green Beret died at 9 AM on Friday, June 30, 2000 at age
55 of pancreatic cancer. His heroism during the Vietnam
War remains vivid still in today's military.
Army Gen. Henry Shelton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, said "The loss was one that all in the military
would feel. We have lost an individual , I think, who
served as an icon to what service in the armed forces is
about. Miller's attention to detail, combined with his
moral and physical courage, made him the ideal soldier.
Doug Miller epitomized that, He will be sorely missed."
CSM Miller was not widely known to the outside world,
but within the small community of commandos, he was a
legend. So much so, that when word spread that Miller
had been diagnosed with cancer, Ross Perot, a long time
supporter of such missions, asked to check Miller's
medical records. "Ross Perot called personally," said
retired Green Beret Col. Rod Nishimura of Valrico.
"Perot's doctors looked at the medical record. Nothing
could be done." Miller spent 6 1/2 years in Vietnam in
the secret Studies and Observations Group, which raided
across the borders of Cambodia and Laos, attacking the
North Vietnamese Army. He joined the Green Berets partly
to compete with his older brother, Walter, who was already
in the force and now lives in Alaska. Miller went to
Vietnam in March 1966 and left in November 1972. While
leading Team Vermont, Miller took part in an action
described as "the Vietnamese Alamo," which earned him
the Medal of Honor. On May 1, 1970, Miller led a seven-man
group of Montagnards and Americans on a patrol into Laos.
One of the men tripped a booby trap that wounded four soldiers.
Others fell to enemy fire, until there was only Miller, shot
through the chest, and still battling about 30 North
Vietnamese troops. "A voice told me to calm down or I was
going to go into shock," Miller said in an earlier
interview with the Tampa Tribune. The disembodied voice
was one he recognized, that of Sgt. Roy Bumgardner, who
had been his combat mentor in Vietnam. "It was like a
religious experience. I knew something had happened.
I was actually falling and thinking, "Why am I falling?"
When you see that much blood, and you know that it is
yours, it has a tendency to scare you." He pulled himself
to his feet and held off two more attacks before
reinforcements arrived. Miller and two others survived,
and he received the Medal of Honor from President Nixon.
When asked by the president where he would like to be posted,
Miller asked to go back to Vietnam. "I liked being there.
I was in my element," he said. "That's what all the training
was for." Miller's actions in Vietnam garnered not only the
nation's highest combat award, but also six Purple Hearts,
a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and an Air Medal. Miller
retired as a Command Sergeant Major in 1992, and moved to
St Pete Beach at the urging of friend Gary Littrell, who is
also a Medal of Honor recipient. Miller worked at Bay Pines
as a benefits counselor until July 1999, when combat injuries
forced him to retired. In recent years his lung worsened from
the AK-47 round that he took in the chest, but the cancer was
unexpected. Miller had gone to Bay Pines Hospital for a
routine checkup when he was told the news. It came at a time
when he was trying to sell his recently republished memoirs
to raise money for his children Joshua, 18 and Danielle, 16,
who lived with him. Another daughter, Melia, 12, lives with
her mother in Hawaii. Though he continued to teach
occasionally at Fort Bragg, N.C., Miller's focus shifted
from combat to his children. His face would light up with
joy at watching them accomplish something. "Actually I learn
a lot from them every single day," Miller said last year.
"Just life itself, seeing it from their point of view."
Miller believed you should be willing to see children
through their learning experiences. "You can't manufacture
quality time with a kid. Quality time is those brief moments
when they need you to answer those questions they have,"
he said. "They've got a chance to make decisions. If they
made a bad decision, they see the results right there."
Army Gen. Peter Schoomaker, commander in chief of the U.S.
Special Operations Command, said "Miller was an inspiration
in life who remained courageous to the end. "Doug Miller was
an incredibly selfless person, a great soldier, friend and
loving father who always put others before himself, He will
be greatly missed by all of us in the special operations
community, But his example of the warrior spirit will
continue to inspire us to do our duty in the face of great
odds." Nishimura said Miller was concerned that his
children would be able to stay in the house in St. Pete
Beach. The Special Forces Association is accepting donations
for the children. They can be sent to the:
Franklin D. Miller Trust,
P.O. Box 4088,
Bay Pines, Fl 33744.
Please make checks payable
to the Franklin D. Miller Trust.
A service is planned Friday, July 7, 2000 at the Special
Operations Memorial at MacDill Air Force Base at 9 a.m.
CSM Miller requested cremation and that his ashes be
scattered in his native New Mexico. The lesson Miller
most liked to pass on to inexperienced troops was one
he lived. "Share your fears with yourself and share
your courage with others. You will inspire people to
do things that are incredible, inspire them to do things
beyond your wildest dreams."
This Poem was given to me by Harve Saal, and it fits here.
As I have said in a few pieces of correspondence, that I
go to Fort Bragg and go to the old Annex 10 area and say
a prayer for the fallen. Annex 10 is where time stood still.
I then go to the NCO Club for early morning breakfast, set
an additional plate, and say another prayer for our active
duty personnel, and the fallen. We have truly lost an
American Hero, and a friend. Franklin D. (Coleslaw) Miller
will be joining some of his former Team Mates at the
biggest DZ of them all. The good Lord will watch over him.
My prayers go out to the family and all his friends. There's
a hush over the Central Highlands, and areas of Kontum.
"De Oppresso Liber!"
The Da Nang Connection
Charlie "PJ" Coulter
An Old Vietnam Poem - A LAST LETTER HOME -1967
I know you are all safe there
where you are now,
possibly because I have done what I must
and that is to give my life
for the cause of Freedom,
My body may be ravaged
by the calibre of bullets,
but my soul is everlasting
and will carry me
to new heights of greatness,
I will have enforced all freedoms
by giving my whole self
to a cause so strong
not even death will decide its fate,
I have lived and loved only for a nation
you have lived in and loved
and still continue to do so,
You will realize my plight not as lost
but as a new beginning to all
who have never known
the reality of their God given freedom,
In the closing of my eyes I hope others
are opened and they will see
the light where I now fall,
Weep yes, but in greatfulness,
not in sadness
that you have given a troubled world
one more solution to an unanswered problem
...me
"This Bravery man from my Vietnam's war I have met him since
last December at the Menton day in state of Washington.
He is Franklin "Dough" Miller as they called him.
It is the first time I have seen a great man who is very
respected by his comrades. I have learned that his story why he
had received the Congressional Medal Of Honor,
a medal highest in US. Armed Forces.
My thanking and admired to this man who did fight for my country
to free from the Vietnamese communist for my people.
I have had feeling to be bonded by this man spirit of his
fighting in that war. Great! But I only have learned that
he had been in serious cancer, that sickness like the "Ghost"
only gives someone a short time to live. I began to pray and
learn to pray day by day as I did for my classmate who was in my
Navy SEAL class 5th (Diep Lau), he also passed away from last
November by cancer too. For the lost of my comrade I have long
stressed of sorrow and empty nest in my heart for memory of a
friend, a new friend likes Frank again.
I am sending to Frank a last salute on my behalf from the
Republic of Vietnam Navy SEAL and Sea Commandos in SOA's
community. I am also have very deep sympathy to Frank's
relatives those who survived! I pray for Frank his soul will be
rested in peace with our father. I also send to all of you
Special Forces Men those who did fight and sacrifices for
my Vietnam's war with my thankfully.
God bless you all and America.
Very Respected,
Kiet Van Nguyen
Congressional Medal of Honor Citation
Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army,
5th Special Forces Group,
1st Special Forces
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Place and Date:
Kontum province,
Republic of Vietnam,
5 January 1970
|
Entered service at:
Albuquerque, NM
|
Born:
27 January 1945,
Elizabeth City, NC
|
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk
of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. Miller,
5th Special Forces Group, distinguished himself while serving as
team leader of an American-Vietnamese long-range reconnaissance
patrol operating deep within enemy controlled territory.
Leaving the helicopter insertion point, the patrol moved forward
on its mission. Suddenly, one of the team members tripped a
hostile booby trap which wounded 4 soldiers. S/Sgt. Miller,
knowing that the explosion would alert the enemy, quickly
administered first aid to the wounded and directed the team into
positions across a small stream bed at the base of a steep hill.
Within a few minutes, S/Sgt. Miller saw the lead element of what
he estimated to be a platoon-size enemy force moving toward his
location. Concerned for the safety of his men, he directed
the small team to move up the hill to a more secure position.
He remained alone, separated from the patrol, to meet the attack.
S/Sgt. Miller single-handedly repulsed two determined
attacks by the numerically superior enemy force and caused them
to withdraw in disorder. He rejoined his team, established
contact with a forward air controller and arranged the
evacuation of his patrol. However, the only suitable extraction
location in the heavy jungle was a bomb crater some 150 meters
from the team location. S/Sgt. Miller reconnoitered the route to
the crater and led his men through the enemy controlled jungle
to the extraction site. As the evacuation helicopter hovered
over the crater to pick up the patrol, the enemy launched a
savage automatic weapon and rocket-propelled grenade attack
against the beleaguered team, driving off the rescue helicopter.
S/Sgt. Miller led the team in a valiant defense which drove back
the enemy in its attempt to overrun the small patrol. Although
seriously wounded and with every man in his patrol a casualty,
S/Sgt. Miller moved forward to again single-handedly meet the
hostile attackers. From his forward exposed position, S/Sgt.
Miller gallantly repelled two attacks by the enemy before a
friendly relief force reached the patrol location. S/Sgt.
Miller's gallantry, intrepidity in action, and selfless devotion
to the welfare of his comrades are in keeping with the highest
traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on
him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
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