Patrick Miller (soldier) - Silver Star and Other Awards

Silver Star and Other Awards

Prior to his capture, Miller had stood his ground firing at the Iraqis with a malfunctioning weapon, feeding bullets into it by hand to protect two wounded comrades. A U.S. Army press release said Miller jumped from his vehicle and began firing on a mortar position that he believed was about to open fire on his convoy.

Miller was held for 22 days with four other members of his unit including:

• Spc. Edgar Hernandez - Mission, TX.
• Spc. Joseph Hudson - Alamogordo, NM.
• Spc. Shoshana Johnson - El Paso, TX.
• Sgt. James Riley - Pennsauken, N.J.
• Pvt. Jessica Lynch - Palestine, WV. Part of same unit but held separately in a different location

After he was captured, he was repeatedly questioned about radio frequencies that were written on pieces of paper inside his helmet. "Thinking on his feet, Pfc. Miller told his captors that they were prices for power steering pumps," the release said. "Disgusted, the captors threw the frequencies and his helmet into the fire."

For these actions he was awarded the Silver Star the third-highest military award for heroism in combat. Along with the Silver Star, Patrick Miller also received a Purple Heart and Prisoner of War Medal on July 2, 2003, during an Independence Day celebration at Fort Bliss, Texas.

On 20 July 2005, while serving with the 183rd Maintenance Company, Fort Carson, Miller was awarded the Combat Action Badge by retired Command Sergeant Major Tyler Walker.

The U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) at Fort Belvoir, Virginia named its operations center and dedicated a wall in Miller's honor in January 2004. Miller attended the ceremony with his mother and his wife and their two small children.