Irving Miller joined the 141st Field Artillery, the Washington Artillery, as a replacement from the infantry. He joined just before the unit went overseas. He trained at Camp Blanding, Florida, then did maneuvers in Tennessee. By the time the unit left, Miller had been in the artillery for six months. He embarked on his ship for North Africa. The following day, he found out his ship was carrying Japanese-Americans. At first sight, Miller thought the war was lost because he only saw Japanese soldiers. After nine weeks at sea, Miller landed in Oran [Annotator's Note: Oran, Algeria]. The war was over in North Africa, but he still trained there. He arrived in Bizerte [Annotator's Note: Bizerte, Tunisia], but the Germans were still bombing the port. He boarded an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] and landed in Naples, Italy. During an air raid in Naples, a drunken sergeant killed an American in front of Miller. The sergeant was eventually court marshalled. Miller went into action at the Volturno River [Annotator's Note: Italy]. It rained all the time. The gunpit had knee deep water. Miller was a cannoneer, meaning he loaded the 155mm howitzer his unit used. From there, he made it up to Monte Cassino [Annotator's Note: Cassino, Italy]. One of his first casualties was a guy who had a leg blown off by a Bouncing Betty [Annotator's Note: German explosive that would spring from the ground before exploding roughly at knee height]. From there, Miller landed at the Anzio [Annotator's Note: Anzio, Italy] beachhead, where he stayed for four months suffering casualties. He was in action the whole time. Miller carried a wounded man eight miles to an aid station. His gun pit took a direct it while he was with the wounded man. One of the men was able to put out the flames before the powder bags blew up. Miller was caught in counter battery actions much of the time. One time, he was caught in an open field. Shrapnel went past his head. He managed to get into a dugout with six other men. After the breakout [Annotator's Note: from the Anzio beachhead], Miller was able to see the Anzio Annie railgun [Annotator's Note: the Germans had two Krupp K5 283mm heavy railcar mounted artillery pieces in the area of Anzio, Italy]. The battalion was brought up to Rome [Annotator's Note: Rome, Italy], where he stayed until he was sent to Naples for the invasion of Southern France.

Irving Miller landed in the French Riviera near Saint-Maxime [Annotator's Note: Saint-Maxime, France]. The equipment made it ashore before he did. He was told he would be used as temporary infantry until the equipment arrived. Miller traveled through Lyon [Annotator's Note: Lyon, France] and hundreds of towns and villages. He fought around Bruyéres [Annotator's Note: Bruyéres, France], where the Nisei [Annotator's Note: first generation Japanese-Americans] rescued the "Lost Battalion" [Annotator's Note: elements of the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division]. Artillerymen do not come under machine gun fire. While withdrawing near Lyon, Miller's unit [Annotator's Note: 141st Field Artillery Battalion] came under artillery fire. Miller and some other men were sent back to their position to grab ammunition that was left behind. While loading the ammo, machine gun fire sprayed the area but no one was wounded in the action. One of the howitzers lost a wheel, so it was left and later recovered and repaired. The outfit eventually landed in Colmar [Annotator's Note: Colmar, France] in Alsace [Annotator's Note: region in eastern France]. Miller was in a rest area when he was called back to his outfit. He was told about the attack in the Ardennes [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. Some of the men were sent to the Bugle as infantrymen and were never seen again. Miller was afraid the Germans would break through his part of the line. They put barbed wire around the guns and machine guns in case of a German breakthrough. It was a cold winter. Miller got frostbite on his feet during that time. The men sat in an armored tractor when his feet froze. Miller was sent back to a hospital, where he came down with hepatitis. He was transferred to several hospitals before finally being evacuated on a hospital ship heading for the States [Annotator's Note: United States]. He was in a hospital in New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] when the war ended. Miller was on a troop ship when V-E Day [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945] was announced. Miller remained in contact with the Washington Artillery [Annotator's Note: 141st Field Artillery] and even went to some reunions.

Irving Miller joined the Army in November 1943. Prior to that, he had been in the New York National Guard. He trained with a shotgun, learned how to march and trained to put down insurrections. He supported the Nisei [Annotator's Note: first generation Japanese-Americans] as they tried to rescue the "Lost Battalion" [Annotator's Note: elements of the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division]. Some of the shells he fired had food in them, but they did not all make it to the soldiers. He knew about the lost battalion as it was happening. Miller believes the worst place he fought was at the Anzio [Annotator's Note: Anzio, Italy] beachhead. He was constantly firing his gun. He was being bombed by counter-artillery fire and the German air force. The planes would drop incendiary bombs on them. Antiaircraft fire saved the Americans from the air force. Shrapnel would fall like hail. One time, a German fighter pilot landed behind Miller's gun position. Miller once experienced friendly fire from an American fighter. When Miller broke out of the beachhead, he went through Cisterno [Annotator's Note: Cisterno, Italy], where the Ranger battalion was captured. The town was nothing but rubble when he got there. Miller did not experience close quarters combat, but plenty of other kinds of fighting. Miller has a Navy cap for the ship named the USS Anzio [Annotator's Note: USS Anzio CG-68]. The Colmar Pocket [Annotator's Note: France] was a tough fight and the Americans were fearful of a breakthrough like in the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. After he left the unit [Annotator's Note: 141st Field Artillery Battalion], he was told it ended up near Dachau [Annotator's Note: Dachau concentration camp complex near Dachau, Germany]. When he was discharged, Miller was discharged from the medical corps. He did not want to fight in the Pacific, so he volunteered to work in the medical corps.

The war ended while Irving Miller was in the hospital. He was discharged on the point system. Everyone talked about the war being over. He was happy not to have to go to the Pacific. He attended a 141st Field Artillery reunion in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] after the war. [Annotator's Note: Miller and the interviewer look through reunion materials.] Prior to joining the military, Miller did not know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He was 19 years old when he entered the military. Miller's time in the military did not affect what he did after the war. His unit [Annotator's Note: 141st Field Artillery Battalion] took casualties, but not like the infantry. The captain of Miller's unit was in a piper cub [Annotator's Note: Piper J-3 Cub light observation aircraft] when it was shot down. Miller later saw him at a reunion and they became acquaintances. After recovering from his injury, the captain reenlisted and served in the Pentagon. Miller knew men that died in the war. Miller, a Jew, never had a problem with anti-Semitism in the Army. There were only four Jews in his unit. His Jewish background made him want to fight the Germans more. People vaguely knew about the early Holocaust. The truth of the Holocaust did not come out until close to the end of the war. The camps were being liberated when Miller was on his way back to the United States. His unit was in Dachau [Annotator's Note: Dachau concentration camp complex near Dachau, Germany]. Miller has not been to The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] but he believes it is important for there to be a Museum dedicated to the World War 2. That generation saved the world from what could have been. It stays in Millers mind. [Annotator's Note: Miller shows emotion.] He does not want there to be any more wars. He feels bad for the soldiers fighting in the Middle East.