JOHN D. MILLER, LCDR, USN

John Miller '37

Date of birth: October 19, 1914

Date of death: September 28, 1943

Age: 28

Lucky Bag

From the 1937 Lucky Bag:

JOHN DUCKETT MILLER

Brevard, North Carolina

"Jack" "Duekett"

Bred in the "Land of Waterfalls," Jack turned to the sea for adventure and a career. He obtained his first taste of salt air at Norfolk and plenty more in the following two years. Jack became a middy the same time his older brother became a kaydet, and one of his cherished ambitions is to even up childhood scores on the gridiron. Since, Jack has carved a path of success on the athletic fields and in the classroom. His jovial spirit keeps us very close to him, and it is an asset that will carry him to the top.

Football 4, 3, 2, 1, N. Lacrosse 4, 3, 2, 1, N. Wrestling 4, 3. One Stripe.

JOHN DUCKETT MILLER

Brevard, North Carolina

"Jack" "Duekett"

Bred in the "Land of Waterfalls," Jack turned to the sea for adventure and a career. He obtained his first taste of salt air at Norfolk and plenty more in the following two years. Jack became a middy the same time his older brother became a kaydet, and one of his cherished ambitions is to even up childhood scores on the gridiron. Since, Jack has carved a path of success on the athletic fields and in the classroom. His jovial spirit keeps us very close to him, and it is an asset that will carry him to the top.

Football 4, 3, 2, 1, N. Lacrosse 4, 3, 2, 1, N. Wrestling 4, 3. One Stripe.

Loss

John was lost when USS Cisco (SS 290) was sunk, likely on September 28, 1943 by Japanese ships and aircraft.

Other Information

His wife was listed as next of kin. John has a memory marker in North Carolina.

His brother graduated West Point and was also KIA in WWII.

Photographs

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.