Beaufort’s John Miller, 77, joined the U.S. Army in Bedford, Texas, in 1967. After Basic Training at Fort Polk, La., he qualified for Airborne and then attended Officers Candidate School at Fort Bragg followed by helicopter pilot flight school at Fort Rucker, Ala. He then served in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam as a Huey and Cobra gunship pilot. His next assignment was as an infantry company commander in Hawaii, and then as an aviation company commander there. During that tour he used tuition assistance to earn a BA degree. He then transferred to Fort Knox, Ky., to attend the Armor Officer Advanced Course before becoming an Army ROTC instructor at Texas A&M University. From there he served in Korea, flying along and near the DMZ. Back to the States, he was the Executive Officer of an aviation battalion at Fort Carson, Colo., during which he used the GI Bill to complete a Masters Degree. He then served at the Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va., before duty with NATO forces in Heidelberg, Germany, after which he became the Inspector General for the Army Material Command in Europe. His last Army assignment was with the Army Aviation Systems Command in St. Louis from which he retired in 1987 as a Lieutenant Colonel with 20 years of service. He then worked for Northrop-Grumman for 21 years in military aviation development. He also was a volunteer firefighter/paramedic and was the head of all volunteer fire departments in Alabama. Today he is commander of Sun City Veteran Association, and a member of DAV, MOAA, AUSA and the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association.
Compiled by John Chubb, American Legion Post 207. For Veteran Of The Week nominations, contact jechubb1@gmail.com.
