The Old Soldier

The Old Soldier

One

The line of cars moved slowly through the small town led by a police cruiser with lights flashing but no siren. Following the cruiser was an immaculate black hearse carrying the coffin of Samuel Joseph Miller, Sr. Following the hearse were two black limousines carrying the family members of the deceased. Last in the procession were cars, trucks and motorcycles carrying the many friends and acquaintances who had come to pay their respects to Sam Miller. The procession moved smoothly through the town that the gentleman had called home for all his life. At every intersection, law enforcement officers stopped oncoming traffic to allow the procession to pass while removing their hats in tribute.

As the procession moved to the cemetery located just outside the city limits, the thoughts of those in the procession were on the kind gentlemen who had strived throughout his life to be a friend to everyone. There were only a couple of individuals that were thinking of other things. Samuel Joseph Miller, III-Joey to family and friends, a fifteen-year-old grandson of the deceased, was disgusted that he was missing three days of football practice to be with his family for his grandfather’s funeral. His father insisted that Joey make the trip. When Joey complained, his father responded.

“Joey you are going to your grandfather’s funeral. If you don’t want to work out the details of missing practice with your coach, I’ll do it for you, but you are going to attend his funeral.”

“Dad, football is the most important thing in the world to me. I don’t want to miss any practices.

“If football is more important to you than family, then I have done a poor job as your father.”

Coach Barnes had not been pleased when Joey explained his need to miss three practices. The coach reminded Joey that the high school’s first game was a couple of weeks away and that he had yet to name his starting lineup. Joey desperately wanted to be named the starting quarterback. If he could be a three-year starter as a high school quarterback, it just might punch his ticket to a major college team and eventually to playing professional football.

Joey tried every argument he could think of with his dad, but it was all to no avail. Joey was sure that Coach Barnes now questioned his dedication to the team and that might just lead to him sitting on the bench when they played their first game.

Grandfather and grandson had never been truly close. The two lived at different ends of the country with the older Miller having called the state of Maine home all his life and Joey residing with his family in southern California. In recent years, the elder Miller had faced the challenges and infirmities that come with being old. His last year had been in an assisted living facility. In addition to the struggles with old age, Alzheimer’s had left the once bright and articulate gentleman’s mind a confused labyrinth of winding paths that now only occasionally allowed him brief periods of lucidity.

Thus, elder and younger Miller had only a minimal influence on each other and hardly knew each other at all.

Joey’s last vivid memories of his grandfather had come some six years earlier when Joey’s family had visited Maine and spent time a couple of nights in the elder Miller’s small home before continuing their vacation into Canada.

Two

The interment service was truly impressive, starting with the need to arrange the dozens of vehicles as close as possible to the grave site in the relatively small cemetery. Many of the attendees were elderly and required wheelchairs, walkers, or canes to assist with their mobility. One of the saddest things about growing old is the loss of lifelong friends or at least the loss of mobility which makes interaction with friends difficult. The family and funeral officials waited patently for the elderly attendees to make their way to the gravesite and be seated.

Joey was surprised to see a small group of soldiers in uniform standing quietly near the hearse. With military precision, at the guidance of the funeral director they removed the flag draped coffin from the hearse and transferred it to Sam Miller’s gravesite.

The minister of the church that Sam had attended his entire life stepped to the podium and began the ceremony.

“It has been my great honor to serve as Sam Miller’s pastor for many years. Sam considered our church his home and he was one of our most dedicated members. Until his later years when he was unable to attend due to sickness he attended every Sunday.

Before becoming ill, Sam met with me one day and asked when it came time for this day that the ceremony be kept short. Sam said that if his actions throughout his life did not suffice for a life lived well in no way would he want his endeavors to be embellished. I will honor Sam’s wishes but feel I would do him great disservice if I didn’t speak a little about his life.

Sam was born here in this town and lived here his entire life. The main exception to that is his service in World War II and later in Korea. Yes, he was a member of the “Greatest Generation. "That is something that many individuals do not know about Sam. He never spoke much about his military service but as it says in the Bible in the book of Isaiah when his country asked, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us, Sam responded, “Here am I. Send me!” Later, after his service in Europe and Korea, Sam returned here and became a teacher and school administrator. I suspect that a great number of you here today were taught by Harold and some of you may have children taught by Sam.

I could speak all day of the contributions Sam made to his country, this town and its citizens but not without breaking my word to him. His was a life well lived and this town, this nation, and those that knew him greatly benefited from Sam’s life.

As the pastor completed his words and stepped back from the podium, the soldiers moved forward and took positions on either side of the casket. Responding in perfect unison to the direction of the noncommissioned officer in charge, the soldiers folded the flag into a perfect triangle and passed it to the designated presenter. The uniformed presenter accepted the flag and then presented it to Sam’s widow who had been his wife for more than 65 years. The presenter, while kneeling, placed the flag in Mrs. Miller’s hands while saying

“On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Army, and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.”

Thus, a nation, a community, a family and many friends formally paid respects to a man who had served well throughout his life.

Three

Had the tributes to Sam Miller ended there, it would have been the humble tribute that Sam Miler wanted. The townspeople and those that knew him well took the time to speak to the family before departing the cemetery. Many told stories to the family that they had never heard before.

While his parents were chatting with friends and acquaintances that that they had not seen in years, a man approached Joey.

“Son, you look like a football player. You play ball?”

“Yes sir, I do.”

“What position do you play?”

“I play quarterback.”

“Oh good. Good position. How far can you throw the ball?”

“As far as my receivers can run,” replied an all too cocky Joey.

“Ha, good answer.” Do you have a good offensive line in front of you?”

“No sir, they pretty much suck. If I wasn’t fast enough to get away from the defense, we’d have trouble beating anybody.”

“Sounds like you’re pretty much the whole team, son.”

“That’s pretty much the case, sir.”

“Well good luck to you son.”

As the man walked away, another gentlemen that had waited patiently to speak to Joey approached him.

“Excuse me but you’re Joey aren’t you, Sam’s grandson?”

“Yes sir, I am.”

“I overheard you talking about football and I thought it might interest you to know what a great football player your grandfather was.”

“You played with my grandfather?

“I did for one game, but it was quite a game. You see during the war a large group of us were in New York City awaiting transportation to Europe. One day a bunch of Navy guys came over and challenged us to a football game on a Saturday. We accepted the challenge. The losing team had to buy ten cases of beer for the winning team. The Navy team was actually pretty good. They had several players that had played a year of college ball. Your grandfather was our best player and also coached our makeshift team that day.

“How did he do?” asked Joey.

“Well, I guess I would say he did pretty good. We won the game. The final score was 66 to 6. Your grandfather ran the opening kickoff back 85 yards for a touchdown. After that he played quarterback and threw three touchdown passes. He then switched to running back and scored three more touchdowns. After that, he only played defense. It was near the end of the game that the Navy team finally scored. Your grandfather fell down on the play allowing the Navy receiver to score a touchdown. Most of us who saw it thought he did it on purpose. He never said he did but most of us thought he let it happen just so the Navy Team would get a score.

“Wow,” said Joey. That really happened?”

“Yes, it really did. Oh, and there is something else that your grandfather did for me. He saved my life. It was the second day after D-Day. We had made good progress advancing off the beaches, but the German’s had our platoon pinned down. I tried to take down a German machine gun position to give us a way out but got wounded. Your grandfather ran about sixty yards across open terrain and carried me on his back to safety. He did the same for two other soldiers. He probably would have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor or the Silver Star, but he made all of us promise we would never mention it. That’s the kind of person he was. He quietly did his job and never wanted any special credit for it.

Four

It took a long time. It seemed like everyone had a story to tell about Sam. Even Joey, though he would not admit it, was changed by learning more about the man that his grandfather had been. Eventually, however, the large number of cars that were in the cemetery dwindled. The family members climbed back into the limousines and were dropped off at the small home that Sam and his wife had called home for several decades. The dining room table was filled with platters of food that had been sent over by the church. There was enough food to last the family for several days. Everyone took a plate and sat around the small home and out on the front porch and the stories of Sam continued.

Joey did his best to absorb all the stories of his grandfather. He felt a bit of remorse at not knowing his grandfather more. His grandmother had been resting after the hugely emotional day but came out and joined the crowd of family and close friends. Sitting beside Joey, she motioned for Joey’s father to come over and she spoke to him.

“Out in the garage on a shelf you will find an old trunk. It has Sam’s name on it. It contains things from all of Sam’s life that he always kept. I would like you to open it and share it with Joey. Sam always regretted not getting to know Joey better. It’s too late now to change that but maybe this will help a little.”

Joey’s father said, “I remember that trunk. I always wondered what Dad kept in there, but he never told me.”

“Then I think it is time both of you learned a little more about Sam.”

The father and son walked out to the garage and found the old trunk. Together they pulled it down and set it on the floor. Slowly they opened to lid and found it packed to the top with a variety of clothes, papers and various things that each told a story about Sam Miller.

The first thing the two pulled out was an Army dress uniform from the World War II era folded neatly in a box. The uniform contained all the medals and insignia of a highly decorated soldier.

Joey was the first to speak. “Wow,” did Grandpa win all those?”

“I’m sure he did son, and I would not be surprised if he had more that he never put on his uniform. Remember, he was a very humble man.”

“What else do you think is in there asked Joey?”

“Let’s take a look,” responded Joey’s Dad while he gently placed the uniform aside.

Reaching again into the trunk, Dad pulled out an old scrap book, one of those that could have only been put together by a loved one to save many pictures and newspaper clippings and school report cards. Together they turned the pages that showed pictures of Sam throughout his life from a young toddler to an adult. As the pictures began to show those of a young man in his teens, there were pictures of Sam with a beautiful girl.

“Who is that?” asked Joey.

“That would be your grandmother Joey. She and your grandfather were almost inseparable from the time they met in high school. Your grandfather always said that she was the only girl he ever loved.”

More pages contained newspaper clippings that spoke to grandpa’s football exploits. He held several state records in football. Some of them stood for years, having only been broken after many years.

More recent clippings showed where Sam had been an accomplished high school teacher and later a school administrator. He had twice been named educator of the year for the state of Maine.

Stuck between the pages were two letter-size envelopes. One had a return address of State College, Pennsylvania. The other had a return address of West Point, New York.

“What are those, Dad?”

“Why don’t you open them, Son.”

Joey picked the one with the return address of Pennsylvania and gently pulled out the letter. His eyes widened as he read it.

“Dad, Grandpa was offered a grant to play football at Penn State University?”

“He was son. Things were different back then. Formal scholarships did not come until much later, but major schools did start offering financial aid to athletes. Penn State wanted your grandfather to go there and to play on the football team.

Joey picked up the West Point letter and read it.

“Dad, Grandpa was selected to attend the United States Military Academy.”

“He was son, and it’s likely he would have played football there. During that time the Army football program was one of the best in the nation. They were recognized as national champions in 1944, 1945 and 1946.”

“Why didn’t he go, Dad?”

“He wanted to son, but he gave it up for something that he thought was far more important. World War II was destroying Europe and Dad thought it served the greater good for him to enlist in the Army. If he had gone to West Point, he would have been safe there for four years. You grandfather did not believe that he should be at West Point while thousands of men his age were fighting and dying. Thus, he said no to West Point, enlisted, and was soon in some of the battles in Europe.

“Did he ever regret, not getting to play college ball?”

“I’m sure he did but he never would have said so. Your grandfather was a fine man. He often denied himself for the benefit of others.

Five

Three years later:

It was a beautiful day at the United States Military Academy, and it was the opening day of football season.

Fans of the Army Black Knights were excited about a new freshman quarterback that was set to make his first start. The scouting report on Joey Miller was that he had great arm strength--enough to throw the ball as far as necessary. He also had the speed to outrun the defense. What the scouting report highlighted the most, however, was that Joey Miller was a true leader that had the ability to put the team on his back and carry the team to victory.

Joey was able to meet briefly with his parents on the morning of the game. His mother and father were incredibly proud of how their son had matured throughout his high school years. The young man who three years earlier was rebellious and focused only on himself was now thoughtful and considerate and focused on the future that he had planned for himself.

Just before his parents departed and Joey had to get ready for the game, his father handed him a note handwritten in the frail but still clear penmanship of his elderly grandmother.

“Dear Joey,

Your grandfather would be so proud of you today. He will watch over you from the sidelines in heaven. You are following in the footsteps that he so much wanted you to walk. Take care Joey and win the game for your grandfather.

Love,

Grandma Miller