Originally Posted By Snake_driver:

Since we’re talking about people in Vietnam, I want you to know one of my real-life Vietnam heroes, Colonel William H. (Bill) Miller.  When I first encountered this larger that life badass he was trapped in the City of An Loc in 1972 surrounded by 5 Divisions of NVA soldiers with all kinds of the latest sophisticated Soviet-built equipment.  Col. Miller was the senior U.S. advisor to the ARVN’s defending the provincial capital with a small group of other U.S. officers and NCO advisors numberings about 10.  The NVA began pounding the town with artillery, rockets and mortars from every direction.  During the height of the 3-month long battle they were taking 8,000-9,000 rounds of incoming a day.  Col. Miller personally took charge of the battle and began directing the massive U.S. Air effort to repulse the enemies attack.



http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb324/Snake_driver/Miller_01-1.jpg



As just a 19-year old Warrant Officer who had been in-country for about 2 /12 months I had never come across anybody like Col. Miller.  His willingness to take risks and place himself personally at-risk was nothing like the other high-ranking officers I’d ever heard of before. He never wavered in his courage and seemed to have will of steel and the heart of a tiger.  Fear didn’t seem to be anything he knew whatsoever.



With his rather countrified sounding southern manner and accent, Col. Miller had a truly amazing story to tell.  He had started his Army career as an enlisted infantryman back at the Battle of the Bulge near the end of World War II, gone on to OCS after the war and then served as an infantry platoon leader in the Korean War for two tours.  By the time we became involved with him at An Loc he had risen through the ranks to "full bird” Colonel and was on his third tour of duty in Vietnam.  In his position he was the Senior Military Advisor to the ARVN in Military Region III (III Corp we called it).  His best quality was that he never sugar-coated his answers.  He was as straight-up and honest as anyone could be about his conversation.  You never doubted where you stood with this man.



Miller and his men in their bunker at An Loc:



http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb324/Snake_driver/Miller_03.jpg



April 13th 1972 at dawn a large numbers of NVA tanks, mostly T-54’s, began attacking An Loc from all sides.  The tanks quickly overpowered the little town’s defenders causing them to retreat to safer locations.  The tanks then began roaming up and down the streets of An Loc shooting at everything they saw including the Catholic Church where many innocent civilians were huddled inside praying for salvation from the enemy onslaught.  The advisors in the town later reported that the godless communists pumped round after round into the church killing most of the people inside.



My unit’s fire team of two Cobras responded to the call for assistance from the Advisors on the ground.  When they arrived overhead and requested permission from Colonel Miller on the ground to begin attacking the tanks within the city he was somewhat reluctant to allow our Cobras to enter such a dangerous anti-aircraft environment.  After hearing that they were carrying HEAT (High Explosive Anti- Tank) rounds in their rocket pods, he admitted he was willing to use anything that was available to stop the lurking hulks.  He allowed the attack, but fearing for the flight crew’s safety he urged them to be very careful.  



Our Cobras quickly rolled in on the first batch of tanks they found just as they approached the center of town.  The Cobra’s first rocket run scored hits on the lead tank, setting it afire, and trapping the other tanks behind it on the narrow streets of An Loc.  Then the remaining tanks were brought under fire with our Cobra’s rockets destroying several of them.  The tank column had been stopped just a few short feet from where Col. Miller and his men were huddled in their bunker conducting the battle to defend An Loc.  Their gratitude for those actions was always obvious after that.



The NVA tank we killed just outside Col. Miller's bunker:



http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb324/Snake_driver/TanksDestroyedbyBlueMax_04.jpg



Here's Col. Millers Tribute to us, we were called Blue Max:



http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb324/Snake_driver/millertributetobluemax-1.jpg



On one occasion when the tanks were roaming the streets and it seemed all was lost, Col. Miller scooped up an armload of M-72 LAW (Light Anti-tank Weapon) rockets and directed a bunch of ARVN soldiers to follow him.  The U.S. made light, portable, single-shot, disposable bazooka was widely distributed by the Army to our ARVN allies and was in plentiful supply.  They cautiously followed him as he sneaked through the streets and maneuvered himself into a firing position to the rear of one of the giant lumbering enemy tanks and fired a LAW into the rear engine deck of the T-54.  It quickly erupted into flames and came to an abrupt halt.



Once they saw that the tanks weren’t invincible the ARVN soldiers on the ground in An Loc rallied and quickly learned that the enemy tanks could be defeated easily enough with a just single well placed M72 LAW round.



Col. Miller with the tank he killed with the LAW:



http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb324/Snake_driver/Miller_02.jpg



On a daily basis through the month of April and into May, our Cobras traveled to An Loc to fight back the NVA attacks.  Time and again, tanks, anti-aircraft weapons and countless numbers of enemy vehicles became victims of our rocket fire.  On the ground, Colonel Miller was as tough as nails and refused give one inch to the enemy threat.  His courage was truly an inspiration to all of us.  



It seems the NVA had poorly planned their strategy for using their armor and allowed them to roam freely without adequate and necessary infantry support to protect them. This made the tanks vulnerable and easy targets for any willing gunner on the ground or in the air.



Finally toward the end of May "higher-ups” at U.S. Headquarters down near Saigon decided that Colonel Miller had done more than his fair share, so they called him home for re-assignment in the United States.  There he would command a brigade of the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell, KY.  If given the choice, I’m sure he would have rather stayed and seen the battle through to its conclusion, but being a good career Army officer, he followed the commands given to him and turned over his command to his replacement.



Nearly 30 years went by until I found out the Col. Miller lived in nearby St. Petersburg, Florida and through a friend I was able to contact him and asked him if we could come and visit him.  He was happy to hear from me and of course welcomed our visit. After so many years I was finally able to meet the man face-to-face and shake his hand.



Col. Miller and me at his home in St. Pete.:



http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb324/Snake_driver/Miller_06.jpg



Sadly Col. Miller passed away in 2004 and was buried with full military honors at Arlington Cemetery.



http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb324/Snake_driver/Miller_04.jpg



http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb324/Snake_driver/Miller_05.jpg



I’ll never forget this guy; he was the bravest man I ever knew!  R.I.P. Col. Miller

Originally Posted By ecgRN:
Dad.

1962

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1963

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1964

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1967

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1967

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2012

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Originally Posted By oldsgm:
Those kind of experiences change a person forever.  I can remember one time when I was getting an ass chewing from my boss, and | started laughing. He said, " What the hell are you laughing at? This is an important issue for the office!  

My response was  " I have been hunted in the night by men trying to kill me, and I have hunted men in the night trying to kill them, this just some government regulations you are worried about, not a  life or death issue".  We never really got along after that.

Merry Christmas Ed, and may you have many more.

Originally Posted By EdAvilaSr:






Fuckin' Ay!



Merry Christmas to you and yours!  

Originally Posted By 72coupe:


I am a land surveyor. I had a realtor call me up saying she needed a survey by a certain time because it was a matter of life or death. I told her I had been in life or death situations, I have decided who lived or died and there are no real estate deals that are life or death.

She laughed and said well it was very important to her and I said I could accept that.

Originally Posted By RTUtah:

  Haha, awesome.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the Old Guard!

Originally Posted By Snake_driver:



Good stuff!  Merry Christmas to all here at ARFCOM!!!

Originally Posted By Snake_driver:

I was 17th Cav. out of Pleiku.  We used to pick guys up from Nha Trang and take them for their little walks through the woods on the other side of the fence.