Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel E. Miller

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel E. Miller, 43, of Rossford, Ohio

SFC Miller was assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.; died Aug. 24, 2007 of wounds sustained in a non-combat-related incident in Herat, Afghanistan. Also killed was Sgt. 1st Class Scott M. Carney.

2 Ky. soldiers killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan
The Associated Press

Two Kentucky soldiers were killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan, the military said.

Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Miller, 43, of Rineyville, died along with Sgt. 1st Class Scott Carney, 37, of Ankeny, Iowa, when the Humvee they were riding in flipped Aug. 24 near Herat, according to officials at Fort Riley, Kan.

A Kentucky National Guardsman, Staff Sgt. Nicholas R. Carnes, 25, of Ludlow, Ky., was killed in an attack Aug. 26 in Afghanistan.

Linda Cook, a friend of Miller’s family, said Miller, who was originally from Ohio, is survived by his wife, Anne, and six children, ages 6 months to 13 years.

Cook said Miller was a loving dedicated family man and friend who was known for his sense of humor, his love of coffee and his “MacGyver-like talent” for fixing anything and everything.

Miller was assigned to the Army’s 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, at Fort Riley. A statement on Fort Riley’s Web site said Miller joined the 1st Infantry Division in November and that the deployment was Miller’s first in the war on terrorism. He joined the Army in 1986.

Miller came home for a visit in June, Cook said.

Julie Siscoe, another family friend, said Miller “was an all-around gentle guy and an all-around soldier.”

“He loved the Army and he loved serving his country,” she said. “There are not enough words to describe how good of a man he was.”

Visitation for Miller will be from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT Aug. 31 at Nelson-Edelen-Bennett Funeral Home in Vine Grove. A prayer vigil will begin at 7 p.m. Visitation also will be held at 10 a.m. Sept. 1, followed by the mass of Christian burial at 11 a.m. at St. Christopher Parish in Radcliff. Burial will be Sept. 3 at St. Rose Parish in Perrysburg, Ohio.

In northern Kentucky, family members and friends were mourning Carnes’ death. The guardsman was killed when insurgents attacked his unit.

Wray Jean Carnes said she received a late-night phone call Sunday informing her that her son had been killed over the weekend.

“They were on maneuvers, looking for [improvised explosive devices],” she said Aug. 27. “Then the enemy fired on his squad.”

The military said Carnes died Aug. 26 of wounds from small-arms fire. He is the second Kentucky guardsman killed in Afghanistan.

Carnes, who was from northern Kentucky, was part of the Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery, based in Carrollton. He graduated from Dayton High School in 2000, where he played football.

He entered the Army National Guard at 17 and went to work at BB Riverboats, where he became a captain before leaving on his guard deployment in October 2006.

His wife, Terri Bernstein-Carnes, is also a captain and a member of the family that owns BB Riverboats. Their first wedding anniversary would have been Sept. 19.

This was Carnes’ first deployment, his mother said.

“He was the most kind, gentle, loving young man,” she said. “There wasn’t anyone he ever met who didn’t love him. He never grumbled. He was always there to lend a helping hand. He was a giving young man.”

His father-in-law, Alan Bernstein, said Carnes “really thought he was doing the right thing, serving his country. He thought that if he lost his life, it was in the name of freedom. He knew the danger, and still he was overly enthusiastic about going. We lost a great kid.”

Carnes will have a military funeral, but arrangements are pending, the family said.

Soldiers from Sheridan met in Afghanistan
By Kathy Thompson
The (Newark) Advocate

THORNVILLE — Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Edward Miller and Sgt. 1st Class Scott M. Carney met in Afghanistan and discovered they had something in common; they both graduated from Sheridan High School.

The two now share the same fate, as well. The two soldiers were killed when their Humvee crashed in Afghanistan.

Miller, 43, originally from Thornville and now of Rineyville, Ky., and Carney, 37, originally of Somerset and now of Ankeny, Iowa, died after the Humvee they were riding in rolled over during convoy operations near Herat, Afghanistan, on Friday. The crash is under investigation.

Miller was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, Kan., and Carney was with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa Army National Guard.

Both men were graduates of Sheridan High School — Miller in 1982 and Carney in 1988 — and the pair had become fast friends after their arrival in Afghanistan and learned they attended the same high school.

Miller’s family believes the two men meeting was meant to be.

“We think that they met for a reason,” said Shelly Kaufman, Miller’s sister. “We know that they were a great comfort to each other so far from their families and loved ones. It gives us some peace knowing they were there for each other.”

Miller had been in the military for the past 23 years and his father, Harold, remembers his son’s love of reading, playing little league ball, history, playing in the band and being in the drama club in high school.

“We got in the car one summer to go on a three-week vacation and asked Dan where he wanted to go,” Harold smiles, his eyes misty with tears. “He hopped in and we were off to travel the Sherman trail.”

Miller’s mother, Susan, smiled as that memory comes back to her.

“I remember he had hurt his leg that summer and was on crutches, but it sure didn’t stop him from climbing a hill to see how Sherman had positioned his men,” Susan said. “He loved history and was military through and through.”

Susan also remembers how the family would send Miller candy while stationed in the Middle East that he kept in a pants pocket for the children of the area.

“That stopped when he told us the kids wanted pens,” Susan smiles. “So, we sent boxes and boxes of pens.”

Miller and his wife, Ann, have six children — Michaela, 13, Lucas, 9, Maggie, 7, Dominic, 4, Marianna, 2, and Lucy, seven months.

Lucy was born several weeks after Miller left for Afghanistan, but he was able to come home in June and spend a couple of weeks with his family and see his parents.

“It was the one time I knew I could just pick up the phone and call him and hear his voice,” Susan says. “I’ll miss that.”

Harold said his son was “destined to be a military man.”

“His whole life, that’s what he wanted,” Harold said. “We’re proud of him for that. We’re proud of all the heroes over there fighting for freedom. Dan was doing something he believed was the right thing to do and we’ll always support his decision to do that.”

Kaufman said she and her family will miss her brother’s easy smile, love of a good prank and his upbeat attitude.

“That’s what he would want from us all now,” Kaufmann said. “To be upbeat and remember how much he loved all of us, especially his Anne and the kids.”

Miller is survived by his wife, four daughters, two sons, his parents, two brothers, Dusty (Ruth) Miller, of Thornville, and Fred Miller of Somerset, and his sister, Shelly.

Funeral arrangements are with Nelson-Edelen-Bennett Funeral Homes in Vine Grove, Kentucky.

Carney enlisted a year after graduating high school and served in Germany and Korea before leaving active duty in October 1999.

But his love for the military brought him back in December 2000, when he joined the Iowa Army National Guard, and was qualified as a supply Noncommissioned Officer. Carney transferred to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team in November 2004 and arrived in Afghanistan in May this year. His unit provided advanced combat training to the Afghan National Army and Afghan Police.

While family members asked that they be allowed to grieve for Scott privately, they did issue a statement through the Iowa National Guard.

“It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of our beloved husband and father, Scott Michael Carney, during combat in Afghanistan,” the family wrote. “Scott died doing what he loved, serving his country and protecting the freedom that we enjoy and providing the people of Afghanistan with the opportunity for freedom.”

Col. Tim Orr, of the Iowa National Guard, said Carney was a model solider and loved what he was doing.

“The Army was his life,” Orr said. “He loved his family dearly and was a great family member. He was also part of the team.”

Carney’s brother-in-law, Jamie Mahne, of Jackson, Miss., said Carney was a model husband and father who loved to take his 12-year-old twin sons fishing at Saylorville Lake.

“He was truly an all-American dad,” Mahne said. “He truly was a saint.”

Carney leaves behind his wife, Jeni L. Carney; twins sons, Jacob and Justin; his parents, Geneva S. and John K. Carney, of Somerset; brothers, Craig (Sharon) of Woodbridge, Va., Russell, of Somerset; Jason (Jennifer), of Somerset; and sister, Lisa Robinson.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Westover Funeral Home in Des Moines, Iowa.

Family, friends recall soldier killed in Afghanistan
The Associated Press

RADCLIFF, Ky. — Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Miller wanted to be in Afghanistan, and sent e-mails to his wife Anne nearly every day detailing the progress being made there.

“He really enjoyed what he was doing and thought he was making a difference,” said Miller family friend Julie Sisco. “He did this because he believed in it, not because someone made him.”

Miller, 43, of Rineyville, died along with Sgt. 1st Class Scott Carney, 37, of Ankeny, Iowa, when the Humvee they were riding in flipped near Herat on Aug. 24. The soldiers were assigned to the Army’s 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, in Fort Riley, Kan.

Miller, who is originally from Ohio, is survived by his wife, Anne, and six children, ages 6 months to 13 years.

Church bells rang as Miller’s silver casket entered St. Christopher Catholic Church during funeral services Sept. 1, as family and friends remembered a man who’d made a career in the military.

Miller joined the Army in 1986 and became a member of the 1st Infantry Division in November. His tour in Afghanistan was Miller’s first in the war on terrorism.

Rev. Dennis Cousens said Miller was reading a book titled “Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters” while deployed and called Miller, a Catholic, a man who was open and proud of his faith.

He will be buried with full military honors Sept. 3 in Perrysburg, Ohio.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel E. Miller was killed in action on 8/24/07.