"Please add attached photos to memorial for LC Doyce Gene Miller U S Marines KIA. I am a first cousin - Doyce's father and my mother were siblings, but I live in Ft Worth and his family lives in Tyler Texas which is about 150 miles away. I am in contact with his sister and asked her to take the photo of his medals and scan the citation. Doyce's father, a former marine during WW II in the Pacific but now is quite elderly and that is where Doyce's things are located. I got the information from his sisters. I am trying to get a copy of the standard Marine photo taking during basic training. I did find a photo on line of the old site of "LZ Catapult" where he was killed. His company was trying to secure this after it had been abandoned a year later. I also found a paragraph in the Marine History files about the company trying to take this position." -- C B Mays, September 22, 2012.

In all, six men from G Company, and one from Headquarters & Service Company were killed in action and 12 were wounded and survived on 11 March. Three (3) of the KIA were as a result of a "Friendly Fire" by an Artillery "short round" hitting their position during their fighting with the NVA and they are marked below with an asterisk after their name. The other 4 were KIA as a result of enemy fire. Bauer was wounded in action and died of his wounds later that day. The men killed were: G Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines PFC David Bruce Arnold, Palatine, Illinois LCPL William Henry Brown, Blytheville, Arkansas LCPL Jean Roger Clemencia Jr.,* Washington, DC LCPL Michael Digenno,* Hurlock, Maryland LCPL Doyce Gene Miller, Tyler, Texas PFC Julio Cesar Weld,* New Orleans, Louisiane H&S Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines PFCDaryl Charles Bauer, Cincinnati, Ohio Following is a partial except from Marine Corp History of the Vietnam War that discusses the actions of Golf Company during the period that LCPL Doyce Gene Miller fell on 11 March 1969: "As the 9th Marines finished up Operation Dewey Canyon, the 4th Marines initiated Operation Purple Martin in northwest Quang Tri Province on 1 March. Evidence indicated that the 246th NVA Regiment was moving south of the DMZ on a broad front through this area. The first encounter with the 246th came on 2 March when Company C, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, clashed with the NVA as the Marines attempted to reoccupy LZ Mack, on a hilltop north of the Elliott Combat Base (formerly the Rockpile). Lashed by enemy mortars, Company C was reinforced by Company L, 3/4, that afternoon. The two companies, handicapped by dense fog and a steady drizzle that eliminated any air support, withdrew under heavy pressure. After consolidating their defensive positions, the two rifle companies waited for the weather to clear before attacking again. The rain didn't hold back the enemy. Over the next three days, the NVA bombarded the units with a near continuous barrage of mortar fire, sniper fire, and nightly ground attacks. Fifteen Marines died in these assaults over the next 3 to 5 days. Fifteen kilometers to the west, Company G, 2/4, on 9 March, engaged yet another enemy unit while moving near the site of abandoned LZ Catapult. As the company approached the LZ, which over looked an extensive enemy trail network north of the old Khe Sanh Combat Base, NVA resistance toughened. Using snipers, ambushes, and Claymore mines, the determined foe worked hard to halt the Marines. Over the next two days, Company G fought a nearly continuous running battle with the enemy. On the morning of 11 March, the NVA counterattacked with small arms, grenades, and RPGs. Fighting raged as close as five meters before the enemy line broke and Company G finally claimed LZ Catapult. Littering the hill top were two dozen NVA dead. The Marines lost seven killed and twelve wounded in this action."

The entry below was taken from March 1967 Messages from the Marine Corps, publicly available at Texas Tech University's Virtual Vietnam Archive. Item 4 is the full engagement at grid XD821611 at 1054 hours while entry 6 shows the friendly artillery incident at the same grid as mentioned in item 4.

Family medal shadow box showing Lance Corporal Miller's medals he was awarded while serving in the Marines. Lance Corporal Miller's posthumous Bronze Star Award Citation. Photos of Lance Corporal Miller's grave marker at Osbourne Cemetery, Clendenin, West Virginia. -- The Virtual Wall

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