Duty, honor, country: Carson City man graduates from West Point

A stack of hot dog and hamburger buns leaned next to the island in the kitchen and cases of soda were pushed up against the back wall. Boxes lay open on the floor, filled to overflowing with jars of pickles, bottles of salad dressing and bags of chips.

Foil banners with red and blue stars lay curled on the table.

In the quiet moments before family members show up to help decorate and prepare food for the next day's celebration, a mother has time to reflect.

"This is the house he came home to when he was born," Jeanette Miller said, looking over at her son sitting on the couch. "He walked out four years ago and now ... well, it's something to look at your kids, they'll always be your kids, but to see them as adults."

Ehren Miller, 22, walked out of his Carson City home on Rawhide Drive as a 2000 graduate of Carson High School. He returned this June, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, having earned the rank of second lieutenant and engaged to be married.

When he entered the academy, the world was in

a period of relative peace. But that changed a year later with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"At first, like everywhere else, there was shock, the whole surreal aspect," Miller remembered. "As things started unfolding, we could see our mission was changing. There was a lot of uncertainty."

That has also changed.

"There is some certainty," Miller said. "I feel I can safely anticipate going into Iraq or Afghanistan, so I can prepare for that."

Next month he will report to Fort Knox in Kentucky for an armored officer basic course to learn tank operations.

"I'm excited about it. Tanks and armored vehicles are the reasons I wanted to be in the Army," he explained.

"Just like something appeals to someone about flying a jet at Mach 2, for me it's blazing down the road at 50 mph in 70 tons of armored steel."

From there, he will go on to Fort Hood in Texas, where he will take command of his first platoon.

"I'm really looking forward to getting my first platoon and leading soldiers," he said. "Not just the military aspect but interacting with and working with not only the soldiers but their families."

It is also likely he will see combat and he's willing, despite the danger. Miller's father, John Miller, a longtime newspaper man - including editor of the Nevada Appeal from 1971-1975 - died in 1996, when Ehren was 14.

"It makes it very real because I know what it's like to lose someone," Miller said. "But it doesn't scare me any more or any less. Death is still real."

He remains focused on his life ahead, one he plans to share with Jennifer Smith of New York.

The two met on an airplane in April and were engaged June 6. She plans to attend law school at Louisiana State University in the fall.

"You know if you're going to put your heart and soul into it, it's going to work," Miller said. "The distance doesn't matter."

As he looks back at his accomplishments and forward to what lies ahead, he's sure his dad would be proud.

"This is his office right here," he said gesturing across the living room to the desk set in the center of an overstuffed bookcase. "That's still the chair he sat in. I know he'd be sitting right there just glowing."

Contact Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or at 881-1272.