| P/O 3 "Mike" Miller was a carpenter and employed at the
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company as a shearman before the war. With the bombing
of Pearl Harbor, Mike took a leave of absence to join the Navy, deploying with the 79th
Battalion for a tour of duty in Kodiak, Alaska. While at Kodiak, Mike worked as a
tailor (a trade which his mother taught to him at a young age) as well as a skilled
carpenter. During the times when the family would bring out the Cruise Book and
Mike's Alaska photo album, he would speak fondly of the Navy and Kodiak. Mike was an
avid fisherman who loved it there and made a lot of friends with the native
Aleuts. One of the Aleuts carved three totem poles for him, even incorporating his
wife, Mary, back home. Though having never seen her, the native Aleut used a photo of
Mike's wife, which Mike carried with him, for the image. Mike also brought home a
very unique set of salt and pepper shakers carved from bone that have the face (with mouth
open...and teeth) of what looks like a polar bear. Returning from the Aleutians, Mike was
needed in Hayward, California and after the war returned home to his former employment and
his native Ohio where he resided with his wife, his son Michael, Jr., and was also blessed
with a daughter, Marlene. Mike is also blessed today with three grandchildren who
never knew him since he departed his earthly life at the young age of 49, just 12 days
before his first grandchild was born. Michael's three grandchildren have all married
now and given him six great grandchildren. May God's richest blessing be Michael's
for the sacrifice and service he gave to his country that the grandchildren and great
grandchildren he never knew may live in peace and freedom today.
You may contact Michael's daughter, Marlene,
at
marlene@cboss.com |
