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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 |