I wanted to present a story about Col. Lewis Millet who died recently at the age of 88. This is one of the more interesting katz I have heard about in the last four years at the Institution. The inspiration foor the post came about from his recent obituary listed in the NYT last week. This man caused such a stir that I have spoken about him at length in two different classes.
Millet is a descendant of soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and WWI. Millet was so eager to fight that he went AWOL before Pearl Harbor, joined the Canadian Army, and attempted to gain action there. Nevertheless, he came back to the US Army and presumed to win a Silver Star in the invasion of North Africa. He was then soon court martialed, then promoted to Lieutenant – this kind of stuff does not happen.
He won the Medal of Honor, the greatest award an American can receive, in the Korean War by conducting what is called the last great bayonet charge in American history. He stormed a gunnery position and bayoneted three different enemy while sustaining injuries. His quotes about the raid in the Times article are priceless. He casually stated how he “got one (enemy) in the throat,” and the other “in the forehead” which he described as sticking a watermelon because at that time “he was strong as a bull.”
I really find him interesting because of his approach to his vicious combat experiences. Millet and the current talk of PTSD, which I would never argue exist, presents a very interesting case study of someone who, after experiencing horrific combat, shows no apparent sign of difficulty interacting within society. I have also noticed this with many Special Forces officers who have no doubt taken many lives. With one SF officer particularly, if you did not know his background, you would think he was a bleeding liberal from UC-Berkeley. It is interesting how some are more capable of coping than others. The origins of some soldier’s difficulty with PTSD is an interesting, yet very pressing question. The answer would be highly beneficial for the future of combat soldiers.
This man is an American hero and he is a man who was put on this earth to soldier. He was likely at times very cantankerous and definitely ol’ school, but interesting nonetheless.
here is a link to his Obituary in the NYT and a picture
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/us/19millett.html
“I went from Army deserter to colonel,” he said. “I served in two armies, in three wars — in Africa, Europe and Asia.” He said he had met presidents, “had my picture taken with some of them. But I was honored to fight for freedom, and I’d do it again.”
p.s. In 1991, when he was 71, he called the Army to see if he could fight against Saddam… guy could just not get enough!










