By Deborah Larsen
William Jennings Bryan Miller
William Jennings Bryan Miller, known to friends and family as Bryan, was born in Detroit, Michigan, on May 12, 1923, the son of William and Catherine Morell Miller. He grew up in Rochester, Michigan, in the household of his grandparents, George and Mary Miller. Before the war, Bryan was employed at McAleer Manufacturing Company in Rochester.
In January 1943, Bryan entered the U.S. Army Air Forces. He was assigned to a military police unit and sent to England in June 1943. In 1945, he volunteered for combat duty and was assigned to the Army’s 272nd Infantry Regiment, 69th Infantry Division. The 272nd landed in France in January 1945, fought through Belgium, and crossed into Germany in March 1945. Bryan was killed in action in Germany on April 5, 1945. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
William Jennings Bryan Miller died at age 21 and was laid to rest at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, the Netherlands. A cenotaph at Mount Avon Cemetery in Rochester also memorializes him.