GAIL DRAKE: A defender to the last grenade

“A mighty man of valor, and with him armed men” 2 Chronicles 17:17

On a freezing morning on Jan. 25, 2008, a U.S. Army Special Forces combat unit set out on their pre-dawn reconnaissance mission in the Kunar Province near the Pakistan border. Team ODA 3312, a specialized 12-man unit, was tasked with confirming enemy activity in the Gowardesh Valley. They were working jointly with soldiers from the Afghan National Security Forces.

This particular region was a well-known Taliban stronghold, with high targets operating freely and amassing high tech weapons. The terrain was historically a Russian-era chokepoint, with high ground and deep valley summits. The Taliban had controlled this turf for more than two years.

Staff Sgt. Rob Miller was on his second deployment to Afghanistan. Raised in Wheaton, Ill., Miller was proud of his family’s military history dating back to the Revolutionary War and his parents’ service overseas. His earliest friends were Cambodian refugees, and their stories of Pol Pot’s killing fields left a deep impression about evil despots. Miller was active in school sports and the school band. He trained hard in gymnastics, the last one to leave the gym, and taught in an after-school program for children with autism. After joining the U.S. Army in August 2003, Miller became an avid surfer.

Miller was an accomplished Special Forces soldier who had trained at Fort Benning’s Airborne School, completed weapons training, French language training, and Ranger school. He was also fluent in Pashto, the Afghan language. Teammates recalled Miller “just spending time … after the sun goes down, drinking chai with them, eating, speaking with them in Pashto.”

While patrolling the Gowardesh Valley, Miller and his platoon engaged with a force of 15 insurgents. He fired his mounted MK19 grenade launcher while communicating detailed information about enemy positions for air support. When that gun jammed, he switched to the mounted M240 machine gun. Securing the area, a small squad was dispatched on foot to assess battle damage. As he was the only Pashto-speaking American, Miller was assigned point man and organized a group of Afghan fighters for foot patrol. The team traveled a long ridge and approached a narrow valley, when they were fired upon by 140 Taliban fighters. It was an ambush.

Instead of retreating from the kill zone, Miller charged forward in the freezing snow and eliminated a machine gun team. Seeing his teammates were still pinned, he charged forward again with his M249 SAW gun and grenades to kill at least 10 more insurgents, simultaneously radioing back enemy positions. Once his team found cover, he started to pull back and was wounded in the chest. His team’s captain also was wounded and called for the team to fall back. Instead, Miller crawled forward, firing, drawing enemy fire so the captain could be pulled to safety. Surrounded and alone, Miller continued firing. His SAW muzzle flashed, revealing his location as the enemy fired upon him through the dust. He spent all his SAW ammo and threw his last grenade.

He was still alive when teammates got to his position and started medical care. Miller died minutes later.

In all, the firefight lasted seven hours. The Taliban suffered more than 40 dead and 60 wounded. Of those, Miller had killed at least 16 and wounded 30. His self-sacrifice saved the lives of his eight brothers in arms as well as 15 fellow Afghan soldiers, and Taliban control of that region was diminished.

On Oct. 6, 2010, President Obama presented the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously to Rob’s parents, Phil and Maureen Miller. Miller was one of 18 recipients of the nation’s highest military honor bestowed during Operation Enduring Freedom.

President Obama noted: “It has been said that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. For Rob Miller, the testing point came nearly three years ago, deep in a snowy Afghan valley. But the courage he displayed that day reflects every virtue that defined his life … devotion to duty. An abiding sense of honor. A profound love of country. These are the virtues that found their ultimate expression [in] Rob.”

Robert James Miller: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Special Forces; Medal of Honor, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal. An American hero. Lest we forget.

Gail Drake practices probate, adoption, mediation and children’s law in Albany. She is a frequent contributor to The Albany Herald