TIME IN SERVICE: Miller was ordered to the USS Essex, a fast-attack aircraft carrier in the Pacific theater, and assigned as a battery officer on a Quad 40mm anti-aircraft gun. His job was to shoot down kamikaze pilots – World War II’s version of suicide bombers – before they could hit the ship. Carriers were prime targets for the kamikazes as they had wide, wooden flight decks that burned easily. Combat was constant from October 1944, when Miller came aboard, until the end of the war in 1945.
The Essex was hit twice, and Miller and his crew were wounded on April 11, 1945, when a kamikaze’s bomb exploded directly beneath their gun turret and blew them all out of the gun mount. “I can close my eyes any time during the day and see that kamikaze diving on us. That will go to the grave with me,” Miller said. He and his men were awarded Purple Hearts for their injuries, which included broken bones and contusions.
WHAT I WAS FIGHTING FOR: “I think I was fighting to save the life of the guy next to me. When you are in combat, your goals are narrowed down to what’s practical. We had each others’ backs.”
WHAT IT COST ME: “I don’t look at it as a cost; I look at this as the one opportunity I had to make a difference in preserving the freedom of my country that I love so much. It obviously postponed getting married and having kids, but that all followed.”
WHAT I GAINED: After the war, Miller went into the active Reserves and pursued his law degree. He was called back to active duty during the Korean War but served stateside as a contracting officer, negotiating with companies to buy parts for submarines, experience Miller said was very helpful to him in his later law practice.
Miller has always been involved with veterans’ groups and causes, but 89 years old, he became aware of the high rate of homelessness among veterans in his community. He started a drill team for homeless veterans in South Bend called “Miller’s Vets,” started a program called “Honor Funerals” for indigent veterans, and purchased a building that would be transformed into the Robert L. Miller Veterans Center. The center had its grand opening on Veterans Day 2011.
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