Article: Former sergeant receives discharge - 46 years later
Maysville Ledger-Independent
Washington,
Aug 31, 2006 -
Honorably discharged from the Army on June 23, 1960, David Miller finally received his discharge certificate Thursday, 46 years later.
"Everybody that I went in service with, they all got (a certificate) ... I figured it's about time I got one," said Miller, who was a sergeant in the Army.
Miller served eight years total, three active duty and five years in the reserve. He was in Korea when the war ended, and then spent a year in Japan serving his country.
Miller said he and his daughter had both made multiple attempts to obtain his discharge certificate, but the 72-year-old Maysville native reached dead ends with each attempt.
Then, when Congressman Geoff Davis opened an office in Maysville, Miller decided to try again and see if Davis could help. Only a few weeks later, Miller said he received a large envelope in the mail with two letters inside, and his discharge certificate.
"I want you to know how pleased I am that this matter was resolved in your favor," Davis wrote in one letter addressed to Miller. "I appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance, and I hope you will not hesitate to contact me in the future."
Miller said everyone he had served with in the military had received discharge certificates. He was told his had also been sent out, and duplicates were not issued.
"I didn't want a duplicate," he said. "I never did receive the original."
Miller enlisted in the Army March 23, 1952, one day after he turned 18.
"I was wanting to go when I was 16," Miller said. "But wasn't old enough."
He was officially sworn in June 16.
Miller said he was just a "normal, everyday GI," in the Army, an infantryman and rifleman who served in the Korean War.
"I tell everybody I won the war," he said. "They don't believe me, but I tell them."
After Miller was discharged he worked as a truck driver for several years. A widower -- his wife died in 1986 of cancer -- Miller has two daughters and three sons. He, like his wife, has also battled cancer. He was first diagnosed in 2001 with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and endured surgery and radiation treatments. Doctors recommended he undergo 30 treatments, but he completed only 10, because radiation damaged his saliva glands. Miller said for six months he lived on Ensure, and lost 50 pounds.
Healthy now, Miller is pleased that he finally has a certificate to exhibit in his home. He said he plans to frame the certificate and put in on the mantle.
"I went around and showed everybody," Miller said about when he first received the certificate. "I served my country, and I thought I should have something to show for it."
