Indianapolis Star September 23, 2003
Iraq war claims 16th Hoosier
Hagerstown man was killed in bomb attackBy Vic Ryckaert
A bomb blast during the weekend claimed the life of the 16th Hoosier to die this year while serving in the Iraq war.
Staff Sgt. Frederick L. Miller Jr., 27, was killed Saturday outside Ramadi, about 60 miles west of Baghdad, when a bomb exploded near his Humvee, the Defense Department announced Monday.
"I just wish it was a dream and that I'm gonna wake up and he'll be here," said his mother, Anne Miller, from her home in Hagerstown. He leaves behind a pregnant wife, two children and a grieving community.
"It's just a shame," said Russell Wampler, the president of the Hagerstown Town Council, population 1,832. "It's a loss that will be felt by the whole town. There's no doubt about that."
Miller commanded a Bradley Fighting Vehicle assigned to Troop K in the 3rd Squadron of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment based at Fort Carson, Colo.
His death and that of two other troops in a mortar attack Saturday brought to 164 the number of U.S. soldiers killed since President Bush declared an end to major fighting in Iraq on May 1. During the heavy fighting before then, 138 soldiers died. The latest deaths brought to 302 the number of U.S. soldiers who have died since the U.S.-led coalition launched military operations in Iraq on March 20.
Miller joined the Army after high school and would have celebrated his eighth year of service next month.
He was discharged after his first tour of duty, but, his mother said, he re-enlisted after the Sept. 11 attacks. "It was his purpose to save our country," she said. "He had a job to do."
Miller had served in combat zones before, with tours in Kosovo, Yugoslavia, and Bosnia. In his last e-mail sent Sept. 11, Miller said things had been getting "pretty crazy" in Iraq, but he told his mother not to worry.
Anne and Frederick Miller last saw their son on Christmas, when he came home on leave with his wife, Jamie, and daughters, Haley, 8, and Sierra, 6. Jamie is pregnant with the couple's third child.
The baby, expected to be a boy, is due in December. Jamie and their children have been living with her parents in Florida.
Concerned that his parents had been spending a lot of money on long-distance phone calls, Miller decided to take action.
"He told me he had a big package for us, but it wasn't gonna fit in his car," she said. "He bought us a whole computer setup. He told us we had to get with the now generation."
Miller also has a sister, Jolene, 21, and two brothers, Justin, 17, and Randy, 16.
The family moved to eastern Indiana's Wayne County in 1991, and he played football at Richmond High School before graduating in 1994.
A steady stream of neighbors bringing condolences and food came to the Miller home on Lacy Road.
Miller's outfit includes more than 300 armored vehicles, including M-1 tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, according to GlobalSecurity.org. The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment has more than 4,700 soldiers. At least 17 soldiers from the unit's base in Colorado have died in Iraq.
U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., who represents the area, phoned the family to tell them Miller was a hero.
"He died like every other American soldier throughout our nation's history, bringing hope and freedom to a people who have never known it before," Pence said in a statement released Monday. "I extend my deepest sympathies and fervent prayers to Staff Sgt. Miller's wife and family as they grieve the loss of this heroic American."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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