Draft:Theodore J Miller (United States Marine)

PVT. Theodore James Miller
Nickname(s)	Theo
Born	12 February 1925 Minneapolis, Minnesota
Died	2 March 1925 Ebon Atoll, Marshall Islands
Cause of death	Killed by enemy sniper fire
Interred	National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Section C, Row 0, Site 1041 21.312305, -157.846758
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	Marine Corps
Years of service	1943-1944
Rank	Private
Unit	Company K, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Marine Independent Regiment
Wars/Battles	World War II Pacific Island Campaign Marshall Island Campaign Enwitok Atol (February 1944) Ebon Atol (March 1944)
Awards	World War II Victory Medal

Theodore James Miller (12 February 1925 - 2 March, 1944) was a United States Marine Private First Class who served with the 22nd Marines during the Second World War. He was born in Minneapolis, Missouri and was the subject of one of the most well-known World War II photos taken in February 1944 in Eniwetok, Marshal Island. He exhibited the "thousand-yard stare" a condition caused by combat stress reaction. He died on March 22, 1944, during the battle of Ebon Atoll when attempting to call for a corpsman to assist a wounded soldier, where he was killed by Japanese sniper fire.

Early Life

Theodore J. Miller was born on February 12, 1925 to Alvah E Miller, and attended North High School in Hennepin County, Minnesota, and attended North High School

World War II Service and Death

Theodore Miller enlisted in 1943 and was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Marines Independent Regiment. He fought in the Pacific Island Campaign under Colonel Merlin F. Schneider. On February 18, 1944, the 22nd Marine Command under Colonel T. Walker were ordered to take the island of Eniwetok of the Marshall Islands to build a airfield and harbor to support an attack against the Mariana Island. After two days of fighting on the beach at Engebi which was the first island invaded in the Enwitok Atol. On February 20, 1944, Millers unit was rotated off of the island, and he returned to the USS Arthur Middleton at 1400 hours, where a photo was captured of him, in a state of distress, suffering from Combat Fatigue.

In March of 1944, Miller and his unit was caught in a firefight between 25 Japanese soldiers, including six civilians. During the fighting, one of his fellow Marines was injured, attempting to render aid and call for an additional corpsman, he was killed by Japanese Sniper fire. His memorial service was held at Church of the Ascension. He was interred in Plot C 1041 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in 1949.