TFH 1/5: Staff Sergeant Franklin D. Miller, USA

On this day in 1970, Franklin Douglas "Doug" Miller was a nearly 25-year old Green Beret with the 5th Special Forces Group. The patrol he was leading encountered a booby trap. With the enemy alerted by the trap's explosion and in superior numbers, it fell upon this man to rescue the day. For his courage, he received our Nation's highest honor.

From Medal of Honor Citations for the Vietnam War:

MILLER, FRANKLIN D.

Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces. place and date: Kontum province, Republic of Vietnam, 5 January 1970. Entered service at: Albuquerque, N. Mex. Born: 27 January 1945, Elizabeth City, N.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. Miller, 5th Special Forces Group, distinguished himself while serving as team leader of an American-Vietnamese long-range reconnaissance patrol operating deep within enemy controlled territory. Leaving the helicopter insertion point, the patrol moved forward on its mission. Suddenly, 1 of the team members tripped a hostile booby trap which wounded 4 soldiers. S/Sgt. Miller, knowing that the explosion would alert the enemy, quickly administered first aid to the wounded and directed the team into positions across a small stream bed at the base of a steep hill. Within a few minutes, S/Sgt. Miller saw the lead element of what he estimated to be a platoon-size enemy force moving toward his location. Concerned for the safety of his men, he directed the small team to move up the hill to a more secure position. He remained alone, separated from the patrol, to meet the attack. S/Sgt. Miller single-handedly repulsed 2 determined attacks by the numerically superior enemy force and caused them to withdraw in disorder. He rejoined his team, established contact with a forward air controller and arranged the evacuation of his patrol. However, the only suitable extraction location in the heavy jungle was a bomb crater some 150 meters from the team location. S/Sgt. Miller reconnoitered the route to the crater and led his men through the enemy controlled jungle to the extraction site. As the evacuation helicopter hovered over the crater to pick up the patrol, the enemy launched a savage automatic weapon and rocket-propelled grenade attack against the beleaguered team, driving off the rescue helicopter. S/Sgt. Miller led the team in a valiant defense which drove back the enemy in its attempt to overrun the small patrol. Although seriously wounded and with every man in his patrol a casualty, S/Sgt. Miller moved forward to again single-handedly meet the hostile attackers. From his forward exposed position, S/Sgt. Miller gallantly repelled 2 attacks by the enemy before a friendly relief force reached the patrol location. S/Sgt. Miller's gallantry, intrepidity in action, and selfless devotion to the welfare of his comrades are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army. 

According to Wikipedia, Miller eventually became a Command Sergeant Major in our Army. He passed away on June 30, 2000 and was cremated and his ashes scattered. From a picture contemporaneous to his Medal of Honor presentation at the previous link, we can see that he also was decorated with the Silver Star and Bronze Star medals for gallantry, although records for those awards do not appear at Military Times' Hall of Valor.

The 5th Special Forces Group serves our Nation to this day around the world from their home base of Fort Campbell, Kentucky.