Harold Miller

Harold Blaine "Min" Miller (January 4, 1903 – 1992) was an American rear admiral, aviation pioneer, publicist, public relations executive, politician, and college administrator. He became the youngest rear admiral in the United States Navy in history, at the age of 42.

Miller is best known for his work in the Pacific Theatre for the United States Navy in World War II, after being chosen by Secretary of War James V. Forrestal to transform and lead CINCPAC naval communications offices for Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's Pacific Fleet. He is known for his publications, his various appointed and elected positions in local and national government, his work as a public relations executive, and his role as a college administrator.

Early life and education Miller was born on January 4, 1903, in Newton, Iowa. His family moved to his childhood home of Los Angeles, California, where he was raised and attended school. He moved to Annapolis for his schooling, graduating from USNA in 1924.

Career Military Following his 1924 graduation from the United States Naval Academy, Miller spent two years sailing aboard the USS California (BB-44).

In 1937, while serving, he published Navy Wings, one of the first full-length books written detailing the early history of aviation in the United States Navy. Miller was picked and appointed by the federal government in 1952 as the president of the National Committee for a Free Europe – and as the outlet's head. In 1968, Miller became the vice president of university affairs at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, from which he retired after six years in 1974.

Miller and McGee eventually left Flower Hill and moved to Shawnee Mission, Kansas.

Personal life Miller was married three times. First was to Jean Dupont, birthing one child and ending in divorce. From 1946, he was married to Mary Emory Hodgkinson, until her death in 1952. In 1953, he married his third wife, Mary Louise McGee; they remained together for 38 years, until his death in 1992.

Death Miller died on May 15, 1992, at the Americana Nursing Home in Overland Park, Kansas, aged 89, after multiple ailments. He was survived by his third wife, Mary Louise McGee, his three children, his five grandchildren, and his two great-grandchildren.