| SERGEANT JOHN O. MILLER COMPANY C, 315th FIELD SIGNAL BATTALION, 90th INFANTRY DIVISION KILLED IN ACTION NOVEMBER 10, 1918 |
The fighting of the Great War ended on November 11, 1918. Hostilities
continued right up to the hour of the armistice, at 11 a.m. The day before
the armistice, the 315th Field Signal Battalion was engaged in battle near
Romagne, France. According to a period newspaper account, Sergeant
John Oscar Miller was killed as a result of "the concussion of a high
explosive enemy shell which fell near his file, killing him and two of his
comrades instantly just as his company was taking up battle positions in the
front lines."
Miller was, however, not a stranger to battle on November 10, 1918. In a
letter home to his parents dated September 30, 1918 he wrote: "Well I know
what it means to go over the top, and I know the Signal Corps is not a very
pleasant job as we are out where the shells fall thick and often. And
sometimes you have to go out alone to fix a line. You are lucky if you get
back sometimes. I lost my chum a few days ago. A shell hit him while he
stood with his hand on my shoulder in a trench. It looks like I am lucky as I
only got a shake up. I sure miss my friend. War is hell."
The last line of Miller's letter states, "I will be glad to get back home but want
to help win this war first if it takes years." Miller's body was not returned to
the United States until 1921.
The letters, telegrams, and newspaper clippings about Miller's service are
from a scrapbook put together by his family after his body was brought
home from France, and are in the collection of the AEF Memorial Project.
continued right up to the hour of the armistice, at 11 a.m. The day before
the armistice, the 315th Field Signal Battalion was engaged in battle near
Romagne, France. According to a period newspaper account, Sergeant
John Oscar Miller was killed as a result of "the concussion of a high
explosive enemy shell which fell near his file, killing him and two of his
comrades instantly just as his company was taking up battle positions in the
front lines."
Miller was, however, not a stranger to battle on November 10, 1918. In a
letter home to his parents dated September 30, 1918 he wrote: "Well I know
what it means to go over the top, and I know the Signal Corps is not a very
pleasant job as we are out where the shells fall thick and often. And
sometimes you have to go out alone to fix a line. You are lucky if you get
back sometimes. I lost my chum a few days ago. A shell hit him while he
stood with his hand on my shoulder in a trench. It looks like I am lucky as I
only got a shake up. I sure miss my friend. War is hell."
The last line of Miller's letter states, "I will be glad to get back home but want
to help win this war first if it takes years." Miller's body was not returned to
the United States until 1921.
The letters, telegrams, and newspaper clippings about Miller's service are
from a scrapbook put together by his family after his body was brought
home from France, and are in the collection of the AEF Memorial Project.
The September 30, 1918 letter written by John O. Miller
Telegram from September 29, 1921 telling Miller's family when his body would arrive home. This occurred
almost three years after his death.
almost three years after his death.