U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Gerald L. “Gerry” Miller served his country in the jungles and skies of Vietnam and later became the Marine Corps’ senior lawyer.
On April 14, 2025, Miller’s family and friends gathered in Section 81 of Arlington National Cemetery to bid farewell to the general. The service included an 11-gun salute, in accordance with his rank. Miller “takes his rightful place here among the ranks of our nation's heroes,” U.S. Navy Chaplain (Lt.) Stephen Walker said.
According to his brother Charlie, Miller was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 1964 and deployed to Vietnam with the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines on March 8, 1965. An enemy sniper shot Miller on July 11, 1965.
After a lengthy hospital recovery, Miller returned to Vietnam as an RF-4 Phantom II reconnaissance jet pilot, serving from 1969 to 1970. He flew tree-top level missions to photograph the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Cambodia—a major supply line for North Vietnam to send troops and supplies into South Vietnam through neighboring Laos and Cambodia—and often came under fire.
Miller remained in the Marine Corps after the war and eventually became the staff judge advocate to the commandant, who advised the commandant on legal matters and oversaw the Marine Corps legal community. He held that position until retiring in 1993. During Miller’s funeral service, Maj. Gen. David Bligh, the present staff judge advocate to the commandant, presented the folded American flag to Miller’s wife, Lynn.
When the service ended, Miller’s family and friends approached his casket. Some saluted, some touched the casket, some laid roses and some cried. Many turned away from the casket and hugged Miller’s daughter, Paige Miller.
Paige described her father as her best friend, who used to hold her and her sisters’ hands even as they became teenagers. She remembered him as a humble and gentle man, yet her friends called called him “the general,” as they saw him as a commanding presence. She also spoke about the deep bond between her parents. During his deployment to Vietnam, Miller and his wife wrote letters to each other every day. They numbered each letter because the mail in Vietnam often did not arrive in the order it was sent. “My mother saved the letters even after 60 years of marriage,” Paige remarked.
Paige, who is studying at the U.S. Naval War College as a government civilian, added that her father attended the U.S. Army War College. “It’s bittersweet because he hasn’t been here this year to help me understand the complexities of national security,” she said, adding with a smile, “and help me make better grades.”
Charlie also spoke about his brother’s exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. In his later years, Miller suffered from amyloidosis and multiple myeloma. He was given five to seven years, but he lived twelve. Charlie added, “He fought it that hard.”
Miller planned his own funeral service and chose Arlington National Cemetery as his final resting place. “He knew this would be the best place to be honored,” Paige concluded.
