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Stories of Honor: Seven decades after WWII, veteran remembers the happier moments

Buffalo News - 5/24/2021

May 24—In May and June, The Buffalo News will tell the stories of some of Western New York's veterans who served in the armed services in World War II and beyond.

Know of a veteran's story we should tell? Let us know by calling 849-4444, emailing citydesk@buffnews.com or submitting a name at buffalonews.com/news-tip/.

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During his time as a communications officer in the 3rd Infantry Division during World War II, U.S. Army Sgt. Arthur P. Miller of Buffalo cultivated a broad range of memories from triumphant to tragic.

As he sat under a gazebo on the grounds of the Brothers of Mercy campus in Clarence more than 75 years later, surrounded by his medals and memorabilia, it was the happier moments about which Miller chose to reminisce.

They included sharing a bottle of scotch with a couple of U.S. citizens who were stranded in Rome prior to the liberation of Italy by Allied forces; sharing a 200-pound wheel of Limburger cheese with an entire village in Austria; and sharing a poignant encounter with a German soldier in which they both managed to avoid killing or getting killed.

Miller's youngest son, Paul, who now lives in Houston, said his father has been brimming with these long-ago memories in recent years.

"That's his whole life now. He never talked about it for years, but that's the biggest part of his life now," said Paul Miller.

His father was eager to share and genuinely humbled by those taking an interest in his stories, including staff at the Brothers of Mercy Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where the 96-year-old veteran has been a permanent resident for three years.

Miller was born on June 28, 1924, in Buffalo, and grew up on the East Side. He attended St. Stanislaus Catholic Elementary School and was a 1939 graduate of Seneca Vocational High School before he was drafted into the Army in 1941.

As a result of his background in radio and telephone technology, Miller said he requested that service be in communications.

"I told them I wanted to be in electronics. So I wound up being in charge of telephone and telegraph," he said.

Miller said that did not spare him service on the battle lines, though.

He served in North Africa, Italy, France, Austria and Germany. Miller joined his men on the Appian Way to Rome in May 1945 for the liberation of Italy. Miller said he and his Jeep driver, Pablo Garcia, encountered an American husband and wife in Rome who had been trapped in the city since the start of the war and were grateful to see him.

"The nice part about it was that the woman had a big, American flag. She wrapped it around me," said Miller.

"Naturally, I was crying and she was crying," he said, dabbing his eyes with a tissue.

The husband broke out a bottle of Haig & Haig scotch that the couple had been saving, vowing not to open it until Italy was liberated.

"So we all had a little drink out of that bottle, and they welcomed us and I welcomed them ... So, that was a happy day," Miller said.

He even found something pleasant to remember in dealing with one of the enemy, during a chance encounter in Germany, in which either of them could have wound up dead.

"I made friends with people who were ready to kill me," Miller said.

How did he manage that?

"Very easily. I just talked them out of doing it," he said.

"He was the same age I was. We were both 19 or 20, and he carried a rifle, and I said, "I don't like you carrying that rifle. Why don't you put it on the ground? And he said 'why?' And I said, 'because it's making me nervous.' And so he finally laid it down,'" Miller said.

Miller spoke to the German soldier half in German and half in English, and asked him: " 'Why do we want to kill each other?' I said, 'why don't we go home. You're as old as I am. You probably have a girlfriend or a wife. You can have a family. You can raise your family and forget about the war,' " Miller said.

The two men saluted each other and walked away.

"There's only one thing I feel bad about and that's I didn't get his name," Miller said.

He recalled the time a German air force officer surrendered to him in Austria near the end of the war.

"We were taking German prisoners down the road, a back road, and I noticed this little white thing coming out of the forest. So I told Pablo, my driver, 'why don't you stop.' It looked like someone was waving a little white flag. So he stopped .... and I waved him on and he came in," Miller said of the German officer.

"He was the sharpest soldier I ever saw in my life," Miller recalled, describing his long chamois leather coat and boots.

"The only thing he could see is that I had a .45 on my side and a .38 on my shoulder holster," said Miller.

In the midst of war, Miller still marveled at the beauty of Austria.

"I stayed there with my men for a whole month, and we ate a lot of Limburger cheese, Swiss cheese and drank a lot of beer. And it was very easy because ... we found out after a few days, hey, there's a little brewery here, and a little cheese factory," Miller said.

"Now, the only way I could buy the cheese was in a 200-pound wheel that they made," he added. "We gave the people that lived in this town the cheese. They did a lot of stuff for us. They became our family and we became their family. It was wonderful."

After 3 1/2 years of service, Miller was discharged in 1945.

He earned the Bronze Star, and during a 2011 ceremony in New York City, Miller was awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honor from the president of France for his participation in the liberation of France.

Miller cherishes a framed black-and-white photograph he took of Allied soldiers in the shadow outside the Eagle's Nest in Anzio, Italy.

He married the former Madeline Marie Bokowski in 1950.

They had three children, now in their 60s: Gretchen; Timothy, a retired New York City-based actor; and Paul. The couple had two grandchildren.

They were married for 65 years until her death in 2015.

Miller was a mechanical engineer for the Sylvania Company in Batavia for 30 years.

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