Lt. Col. Richard A. “Dick” Miller (USAF Retired), passed away at the age of 95 on August 30, 2018 in the Colorado Springs home he shared with Beverly, his wife of almost 71 years. A veteran of World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War, he was a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross among his many other military decorations.
Dick Miller was born on January 9, 1923 to Elmer and Elda Miller and grew up on a family farm in southern Minnesota. He enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1943 and was sent to Colorado Springs that same year for training. As a USAF 2nd Lieutenant, he served as a navigator with the 24th Combat Mapping Squadron in the China-Burma-India Theater. When not flying photo reconnaissance mapping missions the squadron delivered aviation fuel and other materiel from bases in India through the air route over the Himalayas (The Hump) to resupply General Chenault’s 14th Air Force and his Chinese allies at Kunming, China.
On separating from the service after World War II, Dick met, courted, and, on December 21, 1947, married his love and life partner, Beverly Rehnblom. They welcomed their first child in 1948. Three more children would follow over the next seven years. Dick returned to active service with the Air Force at the onset of the Korean War, flying support missions out of Tachikawa, Japan. After rotating back to the United States he stayed in the Air Force and, through the 50’s and early 60’s, was stationed in Montana, Washington State, Alaska, and New Jersey. In 1963 and 1964 he became a literal “Cold Warrior” when he was transferred to the remote radar tracking station at Shemya, a small island at the end of the Aleutian chain. On completing that assignment, the cumulative expertise he had acquired in surveillance operations made Colorado Springs his next, logical destination. By 1965 he was working out of the Chidlaw Building, adjacent to Ent AFB, and at the NORAD facility in Cheyenne Mountain. In 1969 he was tasked to assist in setting up the Joint Defense Facility Nurrungar (JDFN), a restricted space-based surveillance facility operated by the Australian Department of Defense and the United States Air Force. Nurrungar was crucially important to America’s defenses, being at the time the only facility for providing “launch on warning” surveillance of possible ICBM launches. The site was provisioned by the small outback town of Woomera and located in the heart of the South Australian desert. Dick embraced the work, the environs, and the shared family adventure.
In 1972, Dick and his family returned to the house he had built on the fringes of the Black Forest. At the conclusion of a distinguished and rewarding career, he retired from the Air Force in 1975. After retirement, Dick, who caught the “opal bug” in the South Australian diggings, earned a B.A. in geology from UCCS. His high level of academic achievement was recognized when in 1978 he was inducted into the University of Colorado Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society. With degree in hand, he enthusiastically converted a section of his basement into a rock and jeweler’s shop and devoted many a happy hour to grinding and shaping and polishing his creations. Dick and Bev spent much of their time travelling the world and staying in touch with the dear friends they had made together on their journey. The infirmities of age had slowed him down in recent years but he maintained his spirit to the end.
Richard A. “Dick” Miller is survived by his wife Beverly, his sister Jean, his daughters Lynne and Jayne, his daughters- in-law Shiela and Rhonda, his sons Richard and Scott, his grandchildren Andrew, Charlotte and Ricky, and many members of his extended family.
A service of remembrance will take place on Friday, October 19, 2018 at 1:30 pm at First Lutheran Church in Colorado Springs. In lieu of flowers, donations in his honor can be made to First Lutheran Church 1515 N Cascade Ave Colorado Springs, CO 80907
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