Lawrence J. Miller
Biography: Lawrence Jacques Miller was born on September 18, 1919, in Chataignier, Louisiana. He was the son of Hebrard Miller and Merante Vidrine and attended local schools through the grammar level. He then worked as a farm hand. On April 16, 1940, Lawrence married the former Ruby Reviere who was born in Mallet, St. Landry Parish, LA, and was the daughter of Solomon Reviere and Edmonia Goudeau. Also in 1940, the census identifies that Lawrence was working as a laborer in the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). The couple had a son Larry, “Kernis”, born in 1941, a daughter Ruby in 1943, and another son, Launey, in 1943.
Service Time: Lawrence entered the service on January 1, 1943, at Lafayette, LA. After his basic training, he was assigned to the 803rd Tank Destroyer battalion. The 803rd shipped overseas on June 24th and spent almost a year in England, focused on additional training and their final preparations and staging at Portsmouth, in southern England. The unit boarded transports and landed at Omaha Beach, Normandy, France, on June 13, 1944.
They were equipped with M10 tank destroyers and initially helped capture St. Lô, in July, before racing across northern France in August and passing through Belgium and Holland before reaching the Siegfried Line in September. The unit supported operations north of Aachen, Germany, in October.
The 803rd then transferred to the Hürtgen Forest, shifting to the Ardennes just before the German offensive began in December. The were then committed against the Siegfried Line again in early 1945, and converted to the M36 tank destroyer in February. Participating in the capture of Trier, they crossed the Rhine River on March 23rd at Oppenheim, and joined the elimination of the Ruhr Pocket in April, finally pivoting and marching southeast through Austria and into Czechoslovakia.
The 803rd received credit for campaigns in Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe. Lawrence returned to the U.S. on November 29th and was discharged at Camp Shelby, Michigan, on December 6th. He left the service at the rank of Technician 5th grade.
Lawrence returned home to his family and found work as a salesman. The couple had four more children, Betty, in 1946, Nathan in 1949, Ronald in 1952 and David in 1954. In his spare time, Lawrence enjoyed playing his accordion and specifically, Cajun music. Sadly, in 1975, Ruby passed away and was buried in the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Chataignier, Louisiana. On March 20, 1976, Lawrence married the former Mildred Zechenelly “Rosie” who was the daughter of George Zechenelly and Mildred Abney. Lawrence passed away on April 3, 2001, and was buried in the Saint Margaret Cemetery in Albany, LA.
I want to thank Lawrence’s nephew, Andrew, for providing the information and photos used in this tribute. Thank you also to Find A Grave contributor, Judie, for the use of the grave marker image.
