- Collection:
- Veterans History Project: Oral History Interviews
- Title:
- Oral history interview of John Howell Miller II
- Creator:
- Bruckner, William Joseph, 1944-
Miller, John Howell, II, 1953- - Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center
- Date of Original:
- 2018-01-29
- Subject:
- Chernobyl Nuclear Accident, Chornobylʹ, Ukraine, 1986
Iraq War, 2003-2011
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Georgia Institute of Technology
Washington Navy Yard
KBR (Firm)
Blackwater USA
United States. Navy. Civil Engineer Corps
United States. Navy. Judge Advocate General's Corps - People:
- Vitter, David, 1961-
Crocker, Ryan C. (Ryan Clark), 1949-
Hussein, Saddam, 1937-2006
Petraeus, David Howell - Location:
- Estonia, 59.0, 26.0
Iraq, Baghdad, 33.312806, 44.361488
Japan, 35.68536, 139.75309
Korea, 37.663998, 127.978458
United States, District of Columbia, Washington, 38.89511, -77.03637
United States, Florida, Leon County, Tallahassee, 30.43826, -84.28073
United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798 - Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
- Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- In this interview, John Miller recalls his thirty-year career in the United States Navy Civil Engineer Corps. He describes his family's military background and his reasons for joining the Navy after graduating from Georgia Tech in 1975. He recalls his early assignments and reflects on how much he learned from the senior enlister personnel with whom he worked. Many of them owned their own civilian construction companies. He remembers a deployment to Estonia and comments on the Russian government's use of Estonian people to clean up after the nuclear incident at Chernobyl. He recalls an assignment at the Washington Navy Yard and the Marine Corps parades held there on summer evenings. He describes in detail the year he spent in Baghdad's International Zone during Operation Iraqi Freedom, including the civilian contractors operating there; living conditions; interactions with the Iraqi people; the translators with whom he worked; and the constant threat of rocket and mortar attacks. He recalls in detail several incidents during his time there, including being held at gunpoint by Kurdish insurgents while escorting Iraqi government officials to various properties formerly owned by Saddam Hussein; offering the local children cases of potato chips in exchange for their help in cleaning up trash; and the deaths of several people from rocket and mortar attacks. He describes a later assignment working as a facilities officer at the Judge Advocate General headquarters in Washington, D.C. He recalls his retirement from the military and comments on his family, his current leisure time activities, and reflects on his perspective as a comparatively older man serving in a combat zone.
"8th and I"; Marine Barracks; International Zone; Pennsylvania Army National Guard; 122mm rocket; mortar; LZ Washington; insurgent; "Little Venice"; Kurd; Sunni; "Green Zone"; Operation Iraqi Freedom; GI Bill; JAG Corps; Legion of Merit; Reserve Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 24; Third Naval Construction Regiment; Installation Director, Multinational Force Iraq, Joint Area Support Group;
John Miller served in the United States Navy before, during, and after Operation Iraqi Freedom. - Metadata URL:
- http://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/cdm/ref/collection/VHPohr/id/848
- Additional Rights Information:
- This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.
- Extent:
- 1:21:00
- Original Collection:
- Veterans History Project oral history recordings
Veterans History Project collection, MSS 1010, Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center - Holding Institution:
- Atlanta History Center
- Rights:
-
