Clayton Louis Miller
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Sent through to the museum by Diane Holliday, whose father was high school friends with Clayton Miller and kept this clipping along with a letter from Clayton in amongst his papers right up until his own death in 2012.
Object Number - UPL 15003 - Obituary for Clayton Miller, originally from the Lemmon Leader.
Clayton Miller served as a Ball Turret gunner with the 458th Bomb Group. He was shot down on 25 April 1944 in B-24 # 42-52335 "Admirable Little Character". Killed In Action (KIA). An obituary published in his home town records that he was 'the first Morristown boy to lose his life on the battlefield'. One of Clayton's high school friends, Loran C. Young, kept this clipping along with a letter from Clayton in amongst his papers right up until his own death in 2012.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 754th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36435582
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator / Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 754th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-688166
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 754th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14114918 at enlistment, then O-742065
- Highest Rank: Colonel
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 754th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16057259 at enlistment, then O-682183
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 754th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32745523
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Admirable Little Character
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 754th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 25 April 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
20 April 1919 | Corson, Corson County, South Dakota, United States, the son of Louis F. and Mable Miller | |
|
Other Killed In Action (KIA) |
25 April 1944 | Killed by fighter shells on board, his charred remains were found, in the debris of B-24 # 42-52335 in Ponthion, France | |
|
Buried |
26 April 1944 | as unidentified, most probably in the cemetery of Brusson, a small village next to Ponthion | |
| Morristown, Corson County, South Dakota | |||
|
Other Based |
24 April 1944 | at Horsham St Faith, Station 123, Norfolk | |
|
Buried |
after the liberation of the area, he was re-buried in the Temporary American Cemetery #3515 at Champigneul-Champagne, SW of Reims, France | ||
|
Buried |
at the Temporary American Cemetery in Epinal, France | ||
|
Buried |
after the war, his remains were brought back to the USA, where they rest at the cemetery in Morristown, Corson County, South Dakota |
Revisions
MACR 4342
WWII Draft Card
WWII South Dakota, Corson County casualties : https://nara-media-001.s3.amazonaws.com/arcmedia/media/images/29/18/29-…
KU-1639 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/139546559
www.458bg.com
http://www.angelfire.com/sd2/corsoncounty/WW_11_1944_.html
Date of birth and Army Service Number: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=miller&GSfn=clayt…;
Diane Young Holliday says of Clayton Miller: 'He was a high school friend of my father, Loran C. Young (who served in North Africa and Italy). My Dad, through the years, would occasionally mention two of his high school friends who had died in the war, always with tears in his eyes. Clayton was one of these friends. After my Dad died in 2012, I went through his papers and found an envelope with a December 30, 1943, letter from Clayton and an obituary that included his photo. We came across your website a couple of weeks ago and I think my Dad would have wanted to honor Clayton by posting this on your website. '
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 4342 / MACR 4342 & Page 279 of the book LIBERATORS OVER NORWICH by Mackay, Bailry & Scorza, 2010, D790G4582010 &
href="http://www.458bg.com/crew44combs.htm">http://www.458bg.com/crew44combs.htm> / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
