Vietnam Veteran Doug Miller Reflects on the Fateful Day His Brothers Fell in Battle
ASHLAND — Vietnam veteran Doug Miller recently shared a powerful remembrance of his time in the jungles of Vietnam — a memory forever etched in his heart from November 7, 1969, when two of his brothers-in-arms, Sergeant Anthony Firak and Gerald Johnson, were killed in action.
Miller served with the 2nd Battalion, 28th Regiment — the famed Black Lions of the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division. That day, his platoon was conducting a series of “eagle flights” — helicopter operations designed to rapidly insert troops into enemy-held territory where intelligence or aerial reconnaissance suggested Viet Cong or North Vietnamese activity.
“Our objective was to find and engage the enemy,” Miller recalled. “If no contact was made, we boarded the helicopters — the ‘birds’ — and were inserted into the next target.”
The platoon, accompanied by a tracker dog — a German Shepherd — and its handler, was inserted near an area south of Dau Tieng and east of the Saigon River, known by troops as “The Onion.”
Shortly after landing and moving into a dense bamboo thicket, Miller’s unit discovered what appeared to be an enemy base camp. Moments later, chaos erupted.
“As soon as we entered the complex, we came under intense enemy fire,” Miller said. “Tony Firak and Gerry Johnson were immediately struck by small arms fire and killed.”
Both Firak and Johnson were members of the Black Lions, whose storied history in Vietnam was marked by fierce fighting and heavy losses. For Miller, that day remains one of the most painful of his service — a moment that defines not only the sacrifice of his fallen comrades, but the unbreakable bond between those who served.
“RIP Black Lions,” Miller said quietly, honoring his brothers who never made it home.
