Lamar Memorial Library: Always Remember Those Who Gave All: MC WW2 Gold Stars and MIA Survivors: Frank Lewis Miller

Frank Lewis Miller

Frank Lewis Miller (1892-1943)

MC Class: 1914

Years at MC: 1910-1914

Hometown: East Moriches, NY, later Washington, DC

Life at MC: Nicknamed "Willie the Long," Track team, Basketball team, Business Manager and Exchange Editor of the Maryville College Monthly, YMCA cabinet member, Secretary and Vice-President of the Athenian Literary Society, and Photographic Editor of the Chilhowean

Military Branch: US Army

Military Unit: Chaplains' Corps

Rank: Colonel (Assistant to the Chief of Chaplains)

Medals Awarded: Legion of Merit (posthumously)

Date Missing: N/A

Date of Death: 3 May 1943

Location of Death: Mount Fagradalsfjall near Grindavik, Iceland

Circumstances of Death: Traveling with Lieutenant General Frank M. Andrews, US Commander of the European Theater of Operations, "the B-24 ["Hot Stuff"] crashed into the side of 1,600-foot-tall Mount Fagradalsfjall, near Grindavik, Iceland. Upon impact, the aircraft disintegrated except for the tail gunner's turret which remained relatively intact and 14 of the 15 aboard died except the tail-gunner (SSgt Eisel) who, though injured, survived the crash." (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/79645308/frank-l.-miller)

Burial/Memorial Information: Section 2, Site E-182-SS, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/79645308/frank-l.-miller)

Additional Information: Graduated Maryville College as Class Orator (Valedictorian) in 1914. Received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Maryville College on May 18, 1942 and also spoke in Chapel that same year. His son, Frank Lewis Miller was a Junior at Maryville College when his father died in 1943.

Additional Images:

1914 Chilhowean Senior Entry (NOTE: "Moonshine" is an old college term for dating)