Wilson E. Miller

Wilson E. Miller Jr. sits in the common lounge at the Gino Merli Center and enjoys exchanging stories with the other veterans.

By Heidi Martens

SCRANTON- Wilson. E. Miller Jr., a Vietnam veteran, has been a resident at the Gino Merli Center in Scranton since 2019.   

Miller was born on Oct. 10, 1944, in York, South Carolina.  At a young age, he moved to Brooklyn, New York.  When he was young, Miller shined shoes for a living, and he served many American soldiers. Miller looked up to the “handsome Marines” that “had hair on their legs” and could not wait to be just like them one day.

 “I could hardly wait until I was 18,” Miller said.

On April 28, 1963, Miller enlisted in the Marine Corps with his brother.  In 1964, he was stationed in Iwakuni, Japan where he stayed for 13 months and was ranked as Private E-1. 

During his time in Japan, Miller worked as a jet engine mechanic at a power plant and worked with maintenance control.  Miller also learned the language and enjoyed the cultural differences.  He got along with the people well.

After being in Japan, Miller was stationed in Cherry Port, North Carolina until he was deployed to Vietnam. 

In Vietnam, Miller was a part of the fire attack squadron and his location was hit by rockets.  He was in Vietnam for 13 months and left safely with no injuries. 

“I saw more combat than I wanted to.  They hit places of vulnerability, like the hospitals,” Miller said.

Miller worked a part-time job at USO where he met a woman who became his very close friend.  He also said it was very hot. 

“Sometimes, it would be 120 degrees in the shade,” Miller said,

Miller enjoyed being a part of the Marine corps.  He felt like he was finally the Marine he dreamed of becoming.

“A lot of civilians look up to you,” he said.

What Miller did not enjoy was being away from his family. 

He was also upset that the Marines never got a warm welcome home.  They had to go through the private baggage terminals to hide from the people in the airport that were waiting to antagonize the soldiers.

“This was back in the day when everyone was calling the Marines baby killers.  Some of the guys were escorting their buddies back in body bags,” Miller said. 

While people were waiting in the regular terminals to spit and yell at the Marines, Miller was watching a man carrying his best friend back through the private terminal in a body bag and it was hard for him to watch. 

“Everybody is somebody’s baby,” Miller said.

Aside from being called “Baby Killers,” Miller recalls some other nicknames from being a Marine in Vietnam.  “Jar Heads,” “Devil Dogs,” and “Leather Necks” were a few that he explained.

The Marines were called “Jar Heads” because of the helmets that they would wear in Vietnam.  “Leather Necks” were the Marines who would wear the leather around their necks in battle.  And “Devil Dogs” was a term used for the Marines who were fighting with mustard gas and were frothing at the mouth.

 “The marines were fighting like dogs from hell,” Miller said.

Miller served in the Marine Corps for just over seven years.  He enlisted on April 28, 1963, and was honorably discharged on June 30, 1970 at a higher rank of Sergeant E-5.  Miller remembers to the second how long he served our country. 

 “I was enlisted for seven years, two months, two days and 15 and a half hours.”

After Vietnam, he was stationed in North Carolina where Miller welcomed his first son with his first wife.  He married her young, and they stayed married for 12 years.  They have three children together.

After he was discharged, Miller moved to Miami, Florida where he worked as a telemarketer.  He met his second wife at this job.  His wife played piano and Miller played guitar. 

“We bonded over our love for music,” Miller said.

Miller was married to his second wife for 20 years.  They have five children together.

“I enjoyed being married, I liked it a lot.  I’m still looking for my third wife,” Miller said. 

Miller was so passionate about music that he and his friends started a music group in Brooklyn.  They called themselves “The Alibis.”

Altogether, Miller has eight children and countless grandchildren.  They live all around the country. 

Miller attended college in Miami and then got a new job as a private investigator. He continued his job while he moved to Monroe County, Pennsylvania.  Miller moved to Pennsylvania while his parents became ill.  He never found his way back to Miami.

In Monroe County, Miller worked as a security officer as a resort in the Pocono Mountains.  He then retired and stumbled upon the Gino Merli Center.

“I always said I did not want to be in a nursing home, but I knew that if I ended up in one, The Gino Merli Center is where I wanted to be,” Miller said. 

Before joining the Gino Merli Center, Miller was in a regular nursing home.  He was upset that they did not celebrate the veterans on holidays such as the Veteran’s Day.  At the Gino Merli Center, everyone makes the veteran’s top priority not only on their holiday, but every day.

“These people have respect for us, some we have never had before,” Miller said.