Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By And/Or Copyright
06259902	35k	William Cicero Miller was born on 18 July 1919 in Thomasville, N.C. and enlisted in the Navy as an apprentice seaman at Raleigh, N.C. on 20 October 1937. After instruction at the Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Va., Miller was advanced to the rate of seaman 2d class on 21 February 1938 and joined Scouting Squadron (VS) 6, attached to the aircraft carrier Enterprise (CV 6), on 30 September of that year. Miller remained with VS-6 into 1941 and became the rear-seat man for Lt. Clarence E. Dickinson, Jr. around April of that year. In the ensuing months the two became an efficient pilot/radioman team; and, on the morning of 07 December 1941, they both boarded their aircraft, a Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless, for what was to be a routine scouting flight. They were under orders to proceed to Ford Island and land there to refuel. Their ship, Enterprise, together with the rest of Task Force 8, would return later that day. Dickinson and Miller arrived over Oahu to discover the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor underway. After one of the section had been shot down by a Japanese fighter, the commander of VS-6, Lt. Comdr. Halstead Hopping, broadcast the word that Pearl Harbor was being attacked. Miller and the other rear-seat men immediately unlimbered their .30-caliber machine guns. Attacking "Zero" fighters riddled Dickinson's plane, but Miller, already wounded once, downed one and ultimately exhausted his ammunition in the defense of the aircraft until she had been set afire. Dickinson called for Miller to bail out but received no answer. The pilot managed to get out of the falling plane; but Miller, either dead or so severely wounded that he was unable to free himself from the aircraft, remained with it until it crashed into a cane field. For his devotion to duty, despite his wounds, Miller was awarded a posthumous commendation by the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet. USS William C. Miller (DE 259) (1943-1945) was the first ship named in his honor.		Nick Tiberio Shelton, Conn.
0625903	243k	15 May 1945: Vallejo, Cal. - Broadside view of William C. Miller off Mare Island. She was in overhaul at the yard from 12 April until 28 May 1945. (U.S. Navy photo #DE-259 19-N-86023 from the National Archives and Records Administration, courtesy of  Chris Wright)		Ed Zajkowski Narvon, Pa.
0625909	354k	15 May 1945: Vallejo, Cal. - Port quarter view of William C. Miller off Mare Island. (U.S. Navy photo #DE-259 19-N-86025 from the National Archives and Records Administration, courtesy of  Chris Wright)
0625910	97k	15 May 1945: Vallejo, Cal. - Port bow, 45° off-centerline, view of William C. Miller in the Napa River off Mare Island Navy Yard. (U.S. Navy Photo #DE-259-3589-45)		Darryl Baker PNCM, USNR (ret.) Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum
0625902	97k	15 May 1945: Vallejo, Cal. - Port quarter view of William C. Miller off Mare Island. (U.S. Navy Photo #DE-259-3586-45)
0625906	162k	19 May 1945: Vallejo, Cal. - After plan view. Stern of the USS Pensacola (CA 24) is in the background. (U.S. Navy Photo #DE-259-2493-45)
0625907	159k	19 May 1945: Vallejo, Cal. - Forward plan view. (U.S. Navy Photo #DE-259-2796-45)
0625904	206k	26 May 1945: Vallejo, Cal. - After plan view of William C. Miller inboard and Cabana (DE 260) outboard at Mare Island. Both ships received new 40 mm gun mounts during their overhauls. Other ships in the background are O'Brien (DD 725), USS Kimberley (DD 521), Howorth (DD 592) and ARD 11 (with Coghlan (DD 606) in the dock). (U.S. Navy Photo #DE-259-3797-45)
0625905	179k	26 May 1945: Vallejo, Cal. - Forward plan view of William C. Miller inboard and Cabana outboard. (U.S. Navy Photo #DE-259-3798-45)
0625908	102k	undated wartime image		Mike Hamilton son of Edward L. Hamilton S1c,USS Miller

Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has
been made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list
only a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists, rosters, or deck logs available. Please see the
Frequently Asked Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

Additional Resources

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Richard Eckersall's DE-259 Dedication Page
Tin Can Sailors
The U.S. Navy Memorial
Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
The Destroyer History Foundation

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