Henderson Hero: PFC William G. Miller (1926 – 1945) 🇺🇸
Walk through Fernwood Cemetery and you will find a simple flat marble marker that reads:
WILLIAM G. MILLER
Kentucky
PVT 406 Infantry
World War II
Jan. 18, 1926 – April 10, 1945
Just 19 years old.
Behind that quiet stone lies the story of a Henderson boy who left home to fight in the final months of World War II – and never returned.
William Griffin Miller was born January 18, 1926, in Henderson County, the son of Sallie Mae Sawyer Miller. He grew up alongside his siblings Gertrude, Roger, and Carlos – part of a local family rooted in our community. Like many young men of his generation, his early adulthood was shaped by war.
His draft record tells us he had completed two years of high school and worked in semiskilled mechanical repair. On December 2, 1944, he enlisted in Louisville, Kentucky. Within months, he was overseas.
William served in Company K, 406th Infantry Regiment, part of the famed 102nd Infantry Division – the “Ozark Division.” By April 1945, the 102nd was pushing deep into Germany in the final drive toward victory. The division had crossed the Rhine River in late March and was advancing rapidly as German resistance collapsed.
It was during these closing days of the war – just weeks before Germany’s surrender – that Private First Class William G. Miller was killed in action on April 10, 1945.
He was nineteen.
Like many fallen soldiers, William was first buried overseas. Years later, his remains were returned home aboard the Army transport Haiti Victory. In March 1949, newspapers listed Henderson’s William G. Miller among the Kentucky servicemen whose bodies were being brought back from Europe so they could rest in their home soil.
His mother, Sallie Mae, signed the application for his government headstone. Today, that stone rests in Section 1, Lot 2602, Grave 12 at Fernwood – near other Henderson families whose names are woven through our town’s history.
Think about that for a moment.
He was born in 1926 – the same era many of our grandparents remember as children. He might have married. Had children. Opened a business. Sat on a porch on a summer evening along a Henderson street. Instead, he gave his life in the final month of a global war, helping bring about the freedom so many of us now take for granted.
When you pass through Fernwood and see the name William G. Miller, remember:
He was not just a name on a stone.
He was a Henderson son.
He was nineteen years old.
And he helped secure the victory that shaped the modern world.
We remember you, PFC William Miller. 🇺🇸
