Sam L. Miller was born in September 1926 and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He was an only child because his mother could not have anymore children. His father immigrated to the United States from Europe. His father was a laborer many years of his life and even went to Alaska to mine for gold. His father eventually got a hernia and could not do physical labor anymore, so he became a barber. His father tried to convince him to become a certified barber, but Miller never aspired to do so. During the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted through the 1930s], he grew up in a nice Irish-Catholic neighborhood. His family was one of the few who were not Irish. He got along with many of the neighbor kids. He attended a Catholic grade school called Holy Ghost. He attended Latin Mass every day. He attended a Catholic high school called Saint Mel. There was a priest there that helped families in the neighborhood find ways to pay the tuition for school. Miller's father went to see the priest about financial difficulties and worked out a deal so Miller could attend school at Saint Mel. Miller was at a bowling alley when he heard that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He did not comprehend the affect that it would have on him and the country. He remarked that he was just a kid at the time. The brothers at his school recommended for boys eligible for draft to take courses in the summer before they would have to report for service. He remarked that his school was kind of like a semi-military school because he received a military uniform his sophomore year and received ROTC-like [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps] training. Upon graduation, Miller and his friends joined the Navy so they would not be drafted in the infantry. He was inducted into service in 1944. One of his friend's brothers was drafted into the infantry and not long after being sent overseas he was killed. Knowing that could be his fate convinced Miller to join the Navy. He reported to Great Lakes [Annotator’s Note: Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, Illinois] for ten weeks of training. He thought basic training was simple and did not think it was hard. He learned to stand at attention, march and carry a gun. He remembered that his parents were able to visit him twice while he was there. Because he knew how to type and do shorthand, he was selected to go to secretary school. Once he completed that course, he was sent to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] and was assigned to the USS Edgecombe (APA-164).

Sam L. Miller reported aboard the USS Edgecombe (APA-164) in San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California]. He was scared as hell when he walked aboard. He carried his hammock with clothes in and equipment in it. He remembered walking along a 12 inch board to get up to the base of the ship. His asked his friend to walk behind him. Miller admitted he could not swim. The USS Edgecombe was a transport ship that carried 1,500 G.I. [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] men. Miller had two jobs aboard the ship. His first job was to be the secretary for the confirmation officer and his second job was to listen to the radio and type the news of the day, and then distribute it. When he was not working, he often slept, and had to monitor the radio every now and then. He reported aboard the Edgecombe shortly after the Battle of Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] and served aboard during the ship's two runs to deliver troops from the United States to the Philippines in the final weeks of the war. The men his ship picked up from the Philippines seemed to be in a sad state and had gone through a rough period time. He was not allowed to leave the ship while he was out in the Pacific. He had nothing to do with the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. He was dropping off troops in Japan during the surrender. His time on the ship was very easy, nothing exciting happened. To pass time, he would read books, walk around the ship, get together with friends, buy cigarettes and a gallon of coke. He did not write letters to his family. He was aboard the ship when the Japanese surrendered [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945], and the ship was return to the United States shortly. After the Japanese surrendered, Miller was transferred off the ship and assigned to the office of the commodore of the Bremerton Navy Yard [Annotator's Note: Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington] where he spent the remainder of his service. The office was large with a lot of correspondence and filing to do. He hated to file and thought it was unpleasant. He thought his superior, Mack [Annotator's Note: unable to identify], was very nice. His superior scheduled him to have a 30 day leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] around Christmas [Annotator's Note: Christmas 1945] so Miller could go home and visit his family during the holidays. Mack tried to persuade Miller to stay in the service, but Miller was ready to get out. In mid 1946, Miller was discharged at Bremerton [Annotator's Note: as a Yeoman 3rd Class] after he helped Mack with a project he needed to complete. He returned to Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois]. He mentioned that he enjoyed living in Washington. He visited Seattle [Annotator's Note; Seattle, Washington] and Canada.

Sam L. Miller was discharged from the Navy as a Yeoman 3rd Class [Annotator's Note: at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington in mid 1946]. He did not sign up for the Reserves. He was through with the service. His mother gave his Navy uniform and clothing to one of his cousins. He used the G.I. Bill to attend Loyola University [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois]. He probably would not have gone to college if he did not have the G.I. Bill. Overall, he thought it was good for him to have been in the service. It helped him mature and smarten him up. He has no regrets of his service and no complaints. He met a lot of caring people and made many friends. When he went to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] and his roommates were nice and got a long with him. Many of his friends who did not go service did not go to college because they did not have the benefit of the G.I. Bill. Miller was happy to have the advantage to get an education and thought it was a good thing. He enjoyed his college experience. He went to law school and thought he was lucky that he got through the first semester since half of the students fail by then. One of his professors told the class that if they attend all his classes, they will pass the BAR exam. Miller made up his mind to do just that and he passed the exam. Miller did not have trouble transferring back to civilian life because he was used to working in an office like situation. The transition was very peaceful. Miller could not swim even though he was in the Navy. He enjoyed spending his liberties [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] in San Francisco and Seattle [Annotator's Note; Seattle, Washington]. Aboard ship, the officers were served by Black [Annotator's Note: African-American] men. One time, he chatted with one of the Black men. The man responded that he was not supposed to be talking. He recalled that he went to the quarters where the Black sailors lived because he was curious to know what they were like. He thought the way they were treated was not right. [Annotator's Note: A telephone rings in the background at 0:44:17.000.] When he was younger, he worked at a bakery and remembered everyone was treated equally so he thought it odd when the Black men were treated differently in the military.

Sam L. Miller had no memorable experience in the Navy. It was a good and calm experience. Nothing adverse happened while he was in service. He has nothing to complain about; everything went well. Miller got a bar on his uniform for going overseas and when he went on leave to visit home, everyone was so impressed. Later in life he joined some veteran organizations and recalls that it was more impressive to be in an veterans' group for those who went overseas during the war. While he served on USS Edgecombe (APA-164), he never crossed the equator. He wanted to cross the equator but never had the opportunity. He thinks that it would help society if men had to go into a military like situation. His service helped make his life better. Miller enlisted because he wanted to avoid the draft. He did not want to be in the Army. He found out by a recruiter that most of the kids at his high school had join the Navy because none of them wanted to be drafted into the Army. The Great Lakes Navy [Annotator's Note: Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, Illinois] where he did his basic training was very nice. He thought the food was better to. He also liked the idea that if the ship goes down, everyone goes down too. His service changed his life because he probably would not have gone to college. He does not know what career options he would have if he did not attend school. He wanted to be an attorney and glad he was able to go to college on the G.I. Bill. He thinks the G.I. Bill got a lot of service men to go to college and advanced their lives. His service means to him today that he had a better life because of it. There was no real future for him without the opportunity to service in the military. He also changed his feeling about music. He started listening to classical music. He believes that World War 2 is relevant because so many things were produced from it. Many people excelled because they were able to be educated. Miller believes its important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] and to continue to teach about World War 2 to future generations. He believes that more information about wars should be spread. There is never enough education.