Korea; Airman 2C - Security Div.
Lost in Aircraft Accident Nov. 22, Mt. Gannet, Alaska.
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Edward's remains have been recovered. Miller's remains will arrive July 17 at Maple Hill Cemetery in Evansville for a public graveside service with full military honors.
The local service will be a day or two after the U.S. Air Force flies Miller's remains into Milwaukee and an arrival ceremony takes place.
[courtesy of Find A Grave Contributor: Taegu99 # 48732010]
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In 1952, Airman 2nd Class Edward J Miller died in Alaska after the plane he was in collided with a glacier. Recently A2C Miller's remains were recovered and he will finally be brought back home to Evansville.

On Friday, July 16th, 2021, A2C Miller will be escorted from General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee to Ward-Hurtley Funeral Home in Evansville.

On Saturday, July 17th, 2021, A2C Miller will be laid to rest at Maple Hill Cemetery in Evansville. The service will be open to the public.

On Friday, July 16th, 2021, at approximately 6:30PM a military convoy along with family, Rock County Sheriff's Office, and Evansville Police Department will escort A2C Miller into Evansville via the following route:

Southbound on County M (by the Piggly Wiggly) continuing on E Main St. westbound (HY 14) onto W. Main St. and south on S. Fifth St. to the Ward-Hurtley Funeral Home.

The public and media are welcome to show respects for A2C Miller by lining E. Main St. and W. Main St. during his procession.

There is no parking on E. Main St. so please refrain from parking there. Additionally, there is no parking on the north side of W. Main St. from First St. to Fourth St. Please park on side streets and walk to Main St.

Starting at approximately 12:45PM on Saturday, July 17th, 2021, A2C Miller's procession will take place from Ward-Hurtley Funeral Home to Maple Hill Cemetery via S. 5th St. to W. Main St to E. Main St to Cemetery Rd.

A public service will be held on Saturday, July, 17th, 2021, at Maple Hill Cemetery in Evansville at approximately 1:00PM.
[courtesy of VFW Post 6905 Evansville, WI]
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Edward J. Miller –
Researched and Written by Ruth Ann Montgomery
Edward will be buried in the family lot at Maple Hill Cemetery on Saturday, July 17, 2021, at 1 p.m. with military honors.
A melting glacier and a chance sighting of a yellow raft, from an airplane wreckage, is bringing Airman 2nd Class Edward J. Miller back to Evansville for his military funeral, 69 years late. Only a few relatives and school friends remain to celebrate Edward's life. His high school friend, Delmar (Del) Lundy remembered, "It was sad to know he passed so early in life. I remember being affected by the loss at such a young age."
On November 22, 1952, four years after Edward Miller graduated from Evansville High School, he was on an airplane traveling to a new military assignment in Alaska. The plane took off from McChord Air Base in the state of Washington with a destination of Joint Base Elmendorf, just outside Anchorage.
Caught in an Alaska blizzard, the Douglas C-124 Globemaster troop transport plane, never made it to its destination. Later reports said the airplane crew was flying blind, using their altimeter, a stopwatch, and a radio signal to find their way to Joint Base Elmendorf. Forty-one Army and Air Force passengers and eleven crewmen were on the flight.
Evansville pilot, Dan Gillitzer, explained the difficulties in operating the plane and equipment in a blizzard. "The blizzard made the radio about useless. The snow creates static and back then they didn't have a means to improve reception. They also didn't have precision approaches to airports like they have now. You used a gauge that pointed towards a radio beacon at a fixed location, usually at the airport. There was no way of knowing the distance unless you could also get a fix on a different beacon. If the wind direction was inaccurate, which they say it was, you really had to be on your game to stay on the path you should be on. The odds were really stacked against them."
The last report from the plane was over Middleton Island. "From Middleton Island to the mainland is about 50 miles of water. Then to Anchorage the route is what veteran flyers call some of the 'most rugged country in the world' with glacier covered peaks of 12,000 feet or more," according to a newspaper report from Anchorage.
A Northwest pilot flying in the area heard a scratchy radio sign over his headset, "As long as we have to land, we might as well land here."
The airplane accident report appeared in newspapers throughout the United States. Early reports said the plane was lost at sea in the Bay of Alaska. Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard personnel searched the Bay and found debris. However, on further investigation, the debris turned out to be driftwood and sea weed.
Miller's plane was the third to go down in Alaska in November 1952. Days after the crash, the Air Force sent safety agents and other personnel to determine the cause of the crash and the adequacy of the electronic navigation and communications equipment. The experts were asked to determine if new flight crews had sufficient training to operate planes in and out of Alaska. "However it is known that bad weather was a contributing factor in all the recent accidents," the United Press reported in news releases.
Bad weather halted rescue and recovery efforts for several days after the plane was lost. Seven days later, on November 29, 1952, an article in the Wisconsin State Journal, told the story of Dr. Terris Moore, President of the University of Alaska, a veteran pilot and member of the Fairbanks Civil Air Patrol. Dr. Moore joined the search for the missing plane. Later reports said that Moore was accompanied by Lieutenant Thomas Sullivan from the 10th Air Rescue Squadron.
Dr. Moore made "a daring landing beside the wreckage of a missing C-124 Globemaster on the icy slope of Mt. Gannett Friday and reported that all 52 passengers and crewmen had perished. To identify the wreckage definitely and check on the fate of its occupants, Dr. Moore made a hazardous landing in his ski-equipped light plane on what he believed was "Surprise Glacier," 8,000 feet up the slope of the mountain."
Moore told journalists that the plane was flying at full speed when it flew into the mountain. The blizzard covered the wreckage and the passengers, so that only the tail of the plane was visible above the snow cover. He believed the plane slid down the cliffs of the mountain and exploded. The wreckage covered several acres of the glacier.
After Dr. Moore's flight, the news reporters said, "Helicopters were standing by ready to be pressed into the operation if needed. The feasibility of taking a trail crew into the area was also considered."
A few days later, the families were told that the wreckage could not be reached and the bodies of those aboard could not be returned. Weather conditions prevented search parties from recovering any of the service members.
On July 15, 1954, Edward's mother requested and received a military marker. Edward J. Miller's marker was placed on the family burial lot in Maple Hill Cemetery. Ernest Miller, Edward's father, died on August 24, 1954 and was buried in the same family lot.
The U. S. military has a motto for those who serve and are wounded or die on foreign soil, "Leave No Man Behind." The remains of many men and women killed in wars overseas and buried in foreign lands have been returned to their families and hometowns. Evansville's World War I and World War II service men once buried or lost in other countries have been returned for burial in Maple Hill Cemetery.
For Edward John Miller his return home was delayed for decades. On June 9, 2012, an Alaska National Guard helicopter crew spotted aircraft wreckage, a yellow raft and other debris while they were flying Mt. Gannet's ice field. The rediscovery of the remains of the plane in 2012, placed the wreckage north of the Surprise Glacier on the Colony Glacier. For decades, the wreckage was buried beneath an avalanche and annual snowfalls.
In recent years, this glacier has melted rapidly and revealed the wreckage. The military recovery units work during the summer to identify and return the remains of the 52 men aboard the plane.
The search at the sight continues to the present. The Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used DNA and other forensic tools to identify remains found at the sight. Edward John Miller was among those identified.
Miller's death in 1952 was a tragedy for his family and for his many friends in Evansville. He was a 1948 graduate of the Evansville High School and he was an active participant in many school and community activities.
Edward John Miller was born June 22, 1931 to Ernest Paul and Laurene Guenevere Durner Miller. Edward was the second child in the family. His sister, Doloris was the oldest. Two younger sisters, Dorothy and Nancy, born in the late 1930s, completed the Miller family.
Ernest P. Miller, Edward's father, farmed near Evansville and in the 1930s the family moved several times. When Edward was about two, the family moved to a farm near Mount Hope, Grant County, Wisconsin.
Many of the Miller and Durner relatives lived in Evansville, and the Ernest Miller family were frequent visitors for family gatherings. In the 1930s and the early 1940s, the two oldest children, Edward and Doloris, often spent time in Evansville at the homes of their widowed grandmothers, Margaret Durner and Sophie Miller.
In May 1935 four-year-old Edward and his oldest sister, Doloris, were ringbearer and flower girl in the wedding ceremony of their aunt Grace Lenore Miller and Douglas Klinke. The Millers' were listed with a Brooklyn address.
In the Evansville area, it was tradition for the farm rental agreements to end on March 1 of each year. Long lists of people who were moving on that date, along with their new location, were printed in local newspapers. On March 12, 1936, the Review printed a notice, "Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Miller moved recently from a farm near Brooklyn to a farm on the Edgerton highway near the Franklin School."
When the federal census was taken in April 1940, Ernest, Laurene and their children were living on Highway 59 North in Union township. Highway 59 is the road connecting the cities of Evansville and Edgerton.
In 1941, men between the ages of 20 and 44 were required to register for the military draft. Forty-year-old Ernest Miller wrote on his registration that he was "farming for himself" in Magnolia township. The family was living on the Milbrandt brothers' farm in the Tullar school district, southwest of Evansville.
The Tullar school, where Edward and his sisters attended elementary school, was located at the southwest corner of Croft and Finn roads. The Miller family lived on the farm until after Edward graduated from High School.
Edward was a good student. His school friend, Ken Devlin, remembered him as "such a regular guy. [He was] well-liked by the teachers and his classmates. Good friend and just liked by everybody."
Another classmate, Del Lunde remembered, "I looked to him as one of my best friends. I recall I was impressed he could drive the tractor on his family farm. Ed Miller was an easy-going farm boy. I was a town boy grateful for not having to do all the duties farm boys do."
In 1943-44, Edward attended the eighth grade in Evansville rather than in the one-room Tullar school. Throughout his eighth-grade school year, Edward never missed a day or was tardy. At the eighth graduation ceremony in May 1944, Edward was one of four students with no absences and no tardiness. As a reward, each was presented with a photograph album. There were thirty-three students in his eighth-grade class.
In the fall of 1944, Edward entered his freshman year at Evansville High School. Although he was helping his father with farm chores, Edward participated in school, extra-curricular activities and community recreation programs.
It was a time when a group of adults in the Evansville community organized community sports and recreation activities for teenagers. The high school coach, George O'Neil, organized community basketball games for the teenagers and Edward was an active participant.
The Evansville Review supported these efforts by making the programs front-page news in the weekly newspaper. Coach O'Neil organized six basketball teams. The teams competed during the early months of 1945. Five local businesses and the Evansville Lions Club sponsored the teams.
Edward Miller was one of the top scorers during the early part of the season. The Review reported in January 18, 1945, that he scored 46 points. "Others on the high scoring list are Neal Moldenhauer, 24; Buck Elmer and Ed McCaffery, 23; Tom Meredith, 20; Dutch Hollibush, 19; Richard Meredith, 18 and Roger Sell, 17."
As a high school student, Edward was also part of the "Rec" programs in Evansville. The "Rec" was a youth center started by community adults. The leaders persuaded the City Council to rent space for a teenage gathering place in the building at 19 East Main Street. The "Rec" was open several afternoons and evenings during the week.
The adults wanted to find activities to keep young people from loitering on the streets. The hope was that the program would be "student governed, with municipal supervision, and student operated."
The "Rec" opened In December 1944, in what had formerly been a pool hall. The wife of Evansville's Boy Scout leader, Mrs. George Greenway, was hired to be the "house mother" for the youth center. Students were part of the governing body. The large hall allowed room for basketball games, pool tables, ping pong tables, a juke box for dancing and a piano.
During his sophomore year in school, Edward participated in several committees for social activities at school and at the "Rec." It was an Evansville High School tradition to have a Freshman Reception with stunts for the freshmen, games, and dancing. Members of the sophomore class organized the reception. Edward, served on the program committee along with his friends and classmates, Delmar Lunde, Ken Devlin, Roger Wood, Irvin Parson, Marcia Patterson, Delores Dixon, Florence Oswald, Nancy Hyne and Patricia Connors.
The Freshman Reception was held in the gymnasium of the high school. The students and games began at 7:30 and orchestra played for dancing from 9 to midnight.
At the "Rec," Edward served on the committee to plan a Valentine's Day Dance, on Friday night, Feb. 15, 1946.
The Junior Class of the Evansville High School put on a play in the fall of the school year. The profits from the play were used to pay for the Junior Prom and graduation expenses. Edward signed on as one of the actors in the play "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." His classmates, Delmar Lunde played the part of Huckleberry Finn and Ken Devlin played the part of Tom Sawyer. Edward played the sheriff.
The performance was held in November in the high school auditorium. There was a full house of parents and friends at the Friday evening performance. "It was one of the best three-act comedies given here in many years. Members of the cast were well prepared for the presentation and with their lines well memorized took their parts in a creditable manner," the Review report said.
In the spring of his Junior year, Edward played baseball on the Evansville High School team. He was listed as one of the outfield players along with his friend Delmar Lunde, Byrl Rowley, Marvin Hollibush, LaVerne Gallman, Ken Hatlen, Malcolm Bollerud, and Elwood Heacox. His friend Ken Devlin was listed as one of the second base players. Their coach was Mel Erickson. All of the young men were inexperienced, as the school had not had a baseball team in three years.
One of the last big events for the Evansville High School Juniors was the Prom. The class chose the theme "Cotton Ball Prom." Ken Devlin was elected prom king and Devlin chose Betty Dutcher, as his queen. Edward and several of his classmates served as the decoration committee for the dance.
Edward also participated in the Boys' Choir and the Mixed Chorus. In his senior year was elected secretary of the one hundred-and-two-member Mixed Chorus.
There were thirty-nine people in Edward's high school graduating class. The commencement activities lasted for several days. There was a Class Night, a time with the class prophecy and history of read; a class picnic; a baccalaureate service at a local church and the final graduation program held in the high school auditorium. Edward served on the committee to plan the class picnic. The class motto was "The past forever gone; the future still our own."
In the fall of 1948, at the end of the summer following graduation from high school, it was an Evansville Review tradition to announce the previous June's graduates' plans for the future. Some were going to college and others to work. Edward Miller told the Evansville Review reporter he would be "at home helping with the farm work with future plans indefinite."
After Edward's graduation from high school, the family moved to the Belleville, Wisconsin area and farmed. Edward enlisted in the Air Force on October 31, 1951 at the age of 20. First, he was sent to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for basic training. Edward was then sent to Oklahoma A and M College for special training.
During the time that Edward was in the Air Force, his family moved twice. The Belleville farm was too large for his father to handle on his own and the family moved to Florida. The Miller family returned to Evansville in the summer of 1952. This is where they were living when Edward made his last home visit.
Edward was on his way to a new assignment in Alaska when his life was cut short. Though Edward's life was short, he left a lasting impression on his family and classmates. What more can one ask, than to be remembered as a good friend and well liked by everybody.