Patrick Miller

I signed up for the Marine Corps in Sep 92 (our Senior Year). I thought about going to college, but chose to give the Marines a shot and here I am 19+ years later still on Active Duty. I've traveled everywhere & had a remarkable time thanks to my time in the service, but like anything you only get back what your willing to put in. I've been to several different countries, seen many different walks of life, met many wonderful people and made many great friends along the way.

I've been stationed in CA, AL, SC, NC, FL, & VA. As a result I've been able to visit about 30 of the 50 states and seen many cool things all across the US. I've been to 11 different countries: Greece, Ireland, Mexico, Germany, Kuwait, Iraq, The Kingdom of Bahrain, England, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan & Qatar.


I have completed undergrad degrees from Campbell University (North Carolina) and National University (California). It took me almost 15 years after graduating high school to finally complete my first degree, but it's better late then never I guess. I'm currently working on my Master of Science, and after this I'm DONE with school! After retirement from the Marine Corps (sometime in the next 5 years), it's back to the Tampa/Clearwater, FL area where we lived from 2002-2005. We loved it there and have no doubt at all that we will return there.

I'm a huge sports nut, so most of my 'famous' encounters are sports related. For you NASCAR fans, one of my good friends was a VP of a Nationwide Series team and I've been very fortunate for his allowing me to attend numerous races over the past 10+ years at various tracks as a guest of his race team. I've had the opportunity to meet 95% of every NASCAR driver, owner, crew chief, etc and get pictures/autographs.

Baseball is by far my favorite sport (go Cardinals) and when I was stationed in FL, we lived within a couple miles of several different Spring Training sites & I was able to meet hundreds of major league players during our time there.

A non-sport 'famous' person that I've met was during the Presidential Race of 2004, I met President Bush while he was campaigning in FL. It was quick of course, but I still met and shook the President's hand.

I've done so much since we left CHS. I've crammed a lot of memories into the last 19 years so it's hard to pick. As mentioned above, I've traveled to many places, met many wonderful people and have already done far more than I ever imagined that I would've in a lifetime. If I had to pick, these aren't necessarily 'Cool things things I've done', but they are memorable to me so here goes:

I was selected to throw out the first pitch to a Major League Baseball Game in 2005. Tampa Rays -vs- Yankees in St. Petersburg, FL. The Marine Corps arranged for me to do this as a reward of sorts for outstanding achievement while I was on Recruiting Duty for the Marine Corps.

Another memorable thing that I've done, was when I was stationed in Twentynine Palms, CA (look this up on a map...talk about the middle of nowhere!) President Gerald Ford passed away in Dec 2005. Due to the close proximity of our base to his home near Palm Springs, CA, a detail of Marines were selected to assist with the vast amount of planning and logistical nightmare that was associated with the planning and execution of President Ford's wake, public viewing & funeral ceremony that was held in the Palm Springs area for the local public and the Ford Family. There were numerous domestic & foreign dignitaries in attendance that we provided for. My team's duties were comparable to that of a high end concierge service. We'd meet the incoming dignitaries at the small airport in Palm Springs and drive them (in black Town Cars & SUV's ala Secret Service like) to their assigned hotel, resort, or where ever they were staying. In the end I can say I was part of President Ford's burial detail and had the distinct honor of meeting his children and his wife Betty.

It reminds me of the many friends that I left behind in Corning when I joined the Corps. It's unfortunate that I'm not able to visit home more often to see you all, but through the Courier newspaper, Facebook, email & this site, I try my best to stay up with at least a few of the happenings.