Claude Hardison Miller, Jr.

Claude Miller enlisted in the Marine Corps at the age of sixteen, and served in the Guadalcanal campaign as a member of Fox Company, 1st Marines. He was part of a cargo detail aboard the transport USS George F. Elliott on 8 August 1942; the ship was set on fire by Japanese bombers and sunk later that day. According to newspaper reports, Miller was picked up by a destroyer and was aboard for the disastrous battle of Savo Island. The next morning, he rejoined his company ashore and fought in the land battle for Guadalcanal until evacuated for illness.

Miller was reposted to the United States, attended Sea School at Norfolk, Virginia, and was assigned to the Marine detachment aboard the new light cruiser USS Houston (CL-81). The ship completed fitting out and was commissioned in December 1943; all hands were instructed to prepare for an overseas assignment in the following weeks.

At 2304 hours on 17 January 1943, Houston reported a man overboard in Chesapeake Bay. PFC Miller, on duty at the time, fell over the rail for reasons unknown. The cruiser launched an immediate search but could find no trace of the Marine. Due to the “strong tide running, the low temperature of water & the fact that he was wearing heavy clothing,” PFC Miller was reported dead as a result of drowning.