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Paul Miller, 93, was born and raised in Canby, MN. In February 1943, at the age of 18, he was inducted into the Army under the Voluntary Induction Act and was sent to Fort Snelling for the induction ceremony.
He was then sent to Camp Campbell in Kentucky for basic training and joined the ninth tank battalion of the 20th Armored Division. After basic training, Paul became an armorer, and later became a tank gunner.
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The 20th Armored Division was then shipped to France and after a few weeks of training on new model tanks, they crossed the Rhine river into action. Then, they traveled southeast through Germany and ended in Strasburg, Austria.
About that time, V-E Day came and everything stopped in place. Paul’ s division was then told they would become one-year occupational troops in Germany. Shortly after this, plans changed and they were told they would be shipped back to the US.
Back in the states, the division received a 30-day delay en route to Camp Cooke, CA from the east coast.
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Here, Miller and the division were to take part in a six-week amphibious training to participate in a landing in Japan.
V-J Day occurred while Miller was still en route to California. Because of this, they were one of the early groups to receive their discharge papers.
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Paul Miller, 93 |