Miller, Walter L.

Description

Walter L Miller

Walter L Miller was born on November 15, 1910 to Hilda and George Miller. Both his parents were born in Sweden. Walter was a Rye High School graduate, class of 1930, and in Rye his family lived at 135 Locust Ave.

Walter L. Miller married Mary Elizabeth Billington in Rye, New York, on September 10, 1938. They had one son and one daughter. Before the war, he was working with the fur manufacturing Arm of David M. Sokel, Inc.

Walter enlisted June 18, 1943 and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was in the Seabees serving in the South Pacific.

The Seabees are the United States Navy’s Naval Construction Battalions (NCB), a community of sailors who perform diverse construction and engineering tasks in support of military operations. Their nickname “Seabee” is a heterograph of the initial letters “CB” from Construction Battalion.

The official Seabee motto is the Latin phrase “Construimus, Batuimus”, meaning “We Build, We Fight”. This reflects their dual role as a military construction force capable of self-defense and engaging in combat when necessary. They are also famous for their unofficial motto, “The difficult we can do now, The impossible takes a little longer”.
Their mission includes a wide range of construction and support, such as:
Building roads, bridges, airfields, bunkers, and logistics bases.

Walter was Honorably discharged December 16,1945. He returned to Rye and was employed as a fur cutter. The family was then living at 32 Meade Place.

Walter L Miller died on June 18, 2006, in Westminster, Vermont, at the age of 95.