Daniel Miller:
CLASS OF 1967
Benson High SchoolClass of 1967
Omaha, NE
Daniel's Story
Fellow Bunniies
At 62 we all have alot to say so I'll start by telling you what Dan Miller is doing now and work backwards.
I am married and live in Kennewick, Washington. I have two daughters and two step kids. They are all great kids. Just recently I became the proud grandpa of a baby girl.
Before I launch into some tome about what I have doing for the last 40 years let me tell you a little about me now.
In recent years my work has been my focus, however I am beginning to realize that there is this other life outside of work including that special person or those special persons who capture a large part of your heart. I love music, literature - whoa' isn't that change from my BHS days. I enjoy cooking and eating. Of course I no longer have that svelte muscular Marine Corps physique I once had. Once it goes South it is almost impossible to get back to where it once was. But I keep trying. I enjoy the outdoors and so does my wife, Alisha. Mt Rainier is not far from where we live. The Olympic Rain Forest is only hours away. I have tried my hand at fly fishing and it truly is a spiritual experience. My wife's family has a cabin in Estes Park and almost every summer you might find wading in the Big Thompson looking for that elusive rainbow - the fish that is.
As I am writing, I am sitting in a room at Sydney Harbor Marriott at Circular Quay (pronounced "key") in Sydney, Australia. I am participating in a workshop teaching a Malaysian delegation how to conduct training. I arrived in Sydney yesterday after flying from Minsk, Belarus. I had been in Minsk particpating as an instructor in a physical protection training course. Australia is an amazing place. I haven't been outside of Sydney but I love the place. I once attended a concert in the Sydney concert hall. A Kazakh guitarist was playing Rodrigo's "Arranjuez". Wow it was awesome. Speaking of guitar that is another itch on the proverbial bucket list. Does anyone remember Mark Larson from our class? I don't know if many of you knew this but Mark was an amazing guitarist.
I currently work for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a security specialist and project manager. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a Department Energy National Laboratory managed by the Battelle Memorial Institute. I am involved in a program that improves security for radioactive sources at locations around the world. Most of my work takes me to countries in Southeast Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Did I say Vietnam? Of course that's another story.
I got married again in 2004. This time I answered life's important questions correctly and in the righ order. 1. "Where am I going" and 2. "Who will go there with me". I didn't learn this until I was in my 50's. Some wisdom comes only with time and experience. Hopefully one learns this before it is too late in the life.
In 2007 I took a short sabbatical from my international work to teach in a public school. Actually my sabbatical was deliberate departure from what I had been doing. My sister had passed away and I had this epiphany about saving the world one child at a time. I was living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. What a great place to live. You have never seen a sunset like a Northern New Mexico sunset. I had been working doing international nuclear nonproliferation work for the Department of Energy. My sister was living in Omaha and had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. This event affected me greatly. When I made the decision to sell my house and move to Texas to become a teacher I couldn't foresee what would happen with the economy. Alisha and I move back to Canyon Texas where I became a special education teacher - one of the more challenging and yet rewarding experiences of my life. Unfortunately my teaching career lasted only a year and I had to go back to international security work. It is really a national embarrassment that teachers are not paid for their value to society.
More on my life journey... Last I wrote, I was in Sydney Australia and now I'm in Almaty Kazakhstan. Tomorrow I fly to Dushanbe Tajikistan. I have been working doing international work for the Department of Energy and Department of Defense for the last 20 years, except for my brief sojourn into public school teaching. As a result of my profession, I have traveled to 6 continents and more than 30 countries. For 17 years I have made more than 60 trips to Russia and the other Republics of the former Soviet Union. All of this international travel has provided an opportunity to expand my cultural horizon and made me appreciate our country so much more. Most of my travel over the last 18 years has been to Russia. What an interesting country. I have been in the Kremlin, visited the Hermitage, experienced white nights in St Petersburg and 40 degrees below temperatures in Siberia. And yes I can o...Expand for more
rder a beer in Russian - piva pahzalhsta. It has been quite a ride.
I served in the Marine Corps from 1975 to 1995. I was a tank officer and of course being a Marine, I held a number of other jobs in the Corps. I miss the Marine Corps. You might say it is a calling, a special fraternity albeit women belong to this fraternity too. In fact the Corps was the first of the services to have women fly combat aircraft. The Marine Corps and I were simpatico. The challenge, the discipline, the esprit, and to some extent the appeal to ego drew me in like some intoxicant. I enjoyed my time in the Marine Corps but I paid a price or I should say my family paid a price. Not long after I retired in 1995 Sandi and I divorced. Ironically to this day we remain the best of friends.
I was recruited into the Marine Corps while I was in Bellevue College. I attended Bellevue College after my Vietnam service in the Army. I graduated in 1977 with a BA and soon after I was a Marine second lieutenant.
During the seven years between Vietnam and college graduation I held numerous jobs. After initially getting out of the Army and going to school at night, I tried to get on with the Omaha Fire Department. That was a big disappointment. Despite being a highly decorated veteran who had been wounded fighting ammunition and fuel fires and trying to save pilots under fire, I was rejected because I wore glasses. Go figure that years later I would be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.
During this brief interlude between military service, I got married to a beautiful lady who had graduated form Marian High School. Together, Sandi Manna and I had two beautiful daughters who are now young professional women. Before going into the Marine Corps I worked as a cook, soap maker, accounting clerk, UPS driver, electrical contractor's "gopher" - means you do everything the journeymen electricians don't, and a night watchman. All the while I was going to school at Bellevue College.
I returned from Vietnam in 1970 after spending almost two years there. Ironically I have returned to Vietnam in the course of doing my present line of work. There is a bit of deja vue when you return to a place that had such a big impact on your youth. I'm back in the air again, traveling to Nicaragua. When I come home next Friday, August 10, I'll be stopping off in Omaha to attend the 45th reunion.
I spent almost two years in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. I enlisted in the Army right out of high school. I knew I wasn't ready for college and thought military service would be a good place to hold up for awhile. Of course at the time Uncle Sam was giving a lot young men paid vacations to sunny Southeast Asia. In May 1968 I found myself in Phouc Vinh Vietnam. During my 18 month stint I served as a crash and rescue firefighter. Evidently I was good at my job because I was soon promoted to Sergeant. Who would have thought quiet, shy Dan Miller would be in charge of a group men whose job was to rescue personnel in downed aircraft. In July 1968 I was wounded in a helicopter explosion. No, I didn't get to come home. The Docs pulled the shrapnel out of my face and shoulder and treated my burns. I didn't go home until December 1969. During my stay in Vietnam I was stationed in 4 different locations. More later...
Just finished long day of training in Managua. I conduct security training for government organizations involved in the protection of radioactive sources. Sitting down to a nice steak dinner in restaurant in the Intercontinental Hotel. The beef in Nicaragua is considered some of the best in the hemisphere or at least Central America. So far that reputation has proved accurate. Although I must confess it has been a long time a long time since I ate a good steak.
Back to Vietnam. Isn't interesting that we tend to focus on events that either are the most traumatic or significantly emotional like getting married, the birth of a child or God forbid the loss of a loved one. One of my life altering moments came on July 12, 1969. I was stationed in Quan Loi, Vietnam. Originally it was just an LZ - landing zone but soon developed into operating base for the 11th Armored Cavalry . On July 12th a large unit of NVA regulars overran our perimeter. For the next 24 hours we involved in a fight for our lives. Dan Miller who spent most of his tour trying save lives now found himself actually fighting. While saving any reader the details, I would just say it was a horrific experience that most combat veterans would like to forget. I am sure that 24 hours left an indelible mark on my psyche and probably affected me for the rest of my life. I can only imagine what many of thie veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have gone through and are now coping with in the aftermath of their experience.
It is late here in Managua so... More later. Three more days to reunion.
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