By Cathy Ingalls
Albany Democrat-Herald | Posted: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 12:00 am
Army Sgt. Mikeal Wayne Miller of Albany will be buried with full military honors Saturday at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland.
The service starts at 2 p.m. Those attending should stop at the cemetery office for directions to the burial site.
Miller, 22, a 2003 graduate of South Albany High School, died Sunday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He was struck in the head July 9, 2007, by material from a roadside bomb while a gunner on a vehicle patrolling in Baghdad, said his wife, Megan Erner Miller, 22, also of Albany.
"He was the only one injured in the truck," she said.
Megan, a 2003 graduate of West Albany High School, visited the Democrat-Herald Tuesday afternoon with her mother, Kathy Erner, to talk about her husband.
Miller never regained consciousness after being hit, she said. "He was in ICU from day one, and he never acted any differently no matter who was in the room," Megan said.
Miller was flown to Bethesda and later to the veterans' hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., and then back to Bethesda. His family agreed to take him off life support and he died seven days later.
While at Bethesda, President Bush visited him on Dec. 18, 2007, to award him the Purple Heart. Megan said the president stayed for about 15 minutes and appeared to be quite moved. She said he was friendly and consoling.
Megan Miller chose a military cemetery for her husband's burial because, "I want him to have the welcome home ceremony that he won't get to have." To honor her husband, she wears his dog tag and his wedding ring on a chain around her neck.
The couple met about 31/2 years ago and were married for a year and a half. They met through mutual friends.
Megan remembers her husband as someone who was tough with his "guys," very strong-willed, but sweet around family.
He was born in Lakeview and moved to Albany when he was 13 years old.
There was a moment of silence to honor Miller at South Albany's basketball game Tuesday night at West Albany. South will commemorate Miller's life as a Rebel at a time to be determined.
Survivors include his wife; mother Rene Pool of Albany; father Steve Miller of Redding, Calif.; and brothers Kurt and Chris Miller and Conner Pool.
Megan said she did not want to make her husband's story her story. She said she will live with her parents for a while and probably help her father, Rocky Erner, coach softball at West Albany this spring. She wants to return to Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls to finish her senior year.