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Wednesday, April 6, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Obituaries
William N. Miller
November 23, 1924 — March 30, 2016
William N. (Bill) Miller,
91, former 10th Mountain
Division ski trooper, CIA psy-
chologist, communist prison
camp expert and Oregon Red
Cross Emergency Services
Director, died at his home in
Sisters on March 30, follow-
ing a short illness.
Miller, who could have
been a strong candidate for
a “Most Interesting Man in
the World” contest, enjoyed
a life full of action, incompa-
rable experiences and recog-
nition. Coming from a skiing
family that helped found the
“First Kingdom of Ski” club
in upstate New York back in
1900, he enlisted in the elite
10th Mountain Division dur-
ing World War II. He was
hit twice by enemy fire and
earned a Bronze Star for
exceptional bravery during
the historic battle for Riva
Ridge and Monte Belvedere
in Italy.
He said he knew of no
other attack in World War II
that was carried out at night
with unloaded weapons. The
idea was to rope and crawl
as quietly as possible up the
mountain and throw grenades
at any gun that fired because
it had to be a German. Such
surprise tactics and bravery
drove the enemy off this key
position and cleared the way
for U.S. forces to free Italy.
After the war, Miller mar-
ried Nancy Roberts (Miller)
of Utica, N.Y., who became
his wife, best friend and con-
fidant for 66 years until her
death in 2014. “Nan” was
a Sisters community leg-
end, having been a founding
member of the Habitat for
Humanity Thrift Store and
a developer of the SMART
children’s reading program.
Nan’s many heroic volunteer
efforts resulted in the honor
of Sisters’ “Citizen of the
Year” in 1994.
Miller completed his
undergraduate and masters
degree studies in psychol-
ogy with honors at Colgate
University in Hamilton, N.Y.
in 1952, while working as
Director of Winter Sports.
After graduation, Miller
joined Alcoa Aluminum
where he became chief
labor relations negotiator
for a 3,000-man forge plant
in Cleveland, Ohio. But it
wasn’t a good fit. Miller
realized, as part of company
management, he was too
sympathetic with the union’s
point of view.
A dramatic life-change
came when the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA)
called on a recruiting mis-
sion. They were looking for
a professional psychologist
and outdoorsman with a mili-
tary background who could
recruit, assess and train both
U.S. and foreign personnel on
intelligence-gathering tech-
niques under adverse con-
ditions. Miller was ideally
suited, and he stayed with
the CIA for more than 20
years. Overseas tours of duty
included Saipan, Philippines,
Vietnam and Thailand.
The release of captured
U-2 pilot Francis Gary
Powers by the Soviets in
1962 demonstrated that
U.S. prisoners then were ill-
prepared for the rigors of
imprisonment. Shortly there-
after, Miller was assigned
to head up a new CIA “Risk
of Capture” program. This
involved thorough debriefing
of hundreds of Americans,
some of whom had been held
captive in communist and
Iranian prisons for up to 21
years. Perhaps most notable
was the crew of the spy ship
USS Pueblo which was cap-
tured by the North Koreans
in 1968.
The purpose of the study
was to learn in depth the pris-
oners’ treatment, feelings,
behavior and lessons learned.
This research became the
basis of a program designed
to prepare others in potential
danger of overseas capture.
As a result of his work,
Miller was awarded the
Intelligence Medal of Merit
for “developing, conduct-
ing and sustaining programs
to enhance an individual’s
capacity to resist hostile
exploitation and survive
imprisonment in the event of
capture.” His efforts contrib-
uted to changes in the U.S.
Military Code of Conduct as
noted in the Congressional
Record.
Most gratifying to Miller
was his work with the League
of (POW) Families, where his
research changed opinions of
what families could expect
and how they should best
deal with sons and daughters
returning from incarceration.
Miller’s program was
unique. Previous potential
POW training relied on yell-
ing, harassing, humiliating,
demanding unrealistic resis-
tance and ignored the most
important element for detain-
ees: concern for their family.
Foremost, they needed to be
assured that their families
would receive pay, that pro-
motions would continue,
savings would be safe and
a large life insurance policy
would be in place.
His talks to family groups
all over the U.S. were turned
into a special film and later a
national television interview.
After retiring from the
CIA in San Diego, Miller
got his ham radio license
through the Amateur Radio
Emergency Service (ARES)
and became heavily involved
in San Diego Mountain
Rescue work as both a radio
operator and climber.
Moving to Sisters in 1988,
he extended his radio work
helping search and rescue
teams with communication
providing digital data com-
munication links from the
amateur ham radios that
weren’t available from stan-
dard-issue walkie-talkies.
He later became Red Cross
Disaster Chairman for the
state of Oregon and worked
closely with the Oregon State
Police developing statewide
emergency backup commu-
nications systems.
But one major recent
accomplishment is perhaps
a ski-industry record: He
attained first-time certifica-
tion as a PSIA ski instruc-
tor working two seasons at
Hoodoo Ski Area in Oregon
at the prime age of 83. His
last bucket-list item was just
achieved last summer, when
at age 90 he and his dog Ellie
See oBITuARIes on page 17
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