Scott Miller
National Guard soldier promoted while in treatment for cancer
Scott Miller and his comrades listen as Major General Carter promotes Miller to sergeant
"Hi Specialist Miller. I guess I'm only going to be calling you that for a few more minutes." With those words, Major General Joseph C. Carter shook the hand of Army Specialist Scott Miller, recently home from active duty in Iraq. Miller didn't rise upon meeting his superior officer, but it was OK — he was hooked up to an IV getting chemotherapy at the time.
Miller did stand up at attention, however, moments later, when Carter came forward with several of Miller's comrades from the National Guard's 972nd Military Police Company. Miller found out last month that he has incurable neuroendocrine cancer; Carter was at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute yesterday to promote him to sergeant while his wife, family, and caregivers looked on.
"I'd rather be over there fighting than here fighting this," said Miller, who served as a gunner on a Humvee in Baghdad before a blood clot in his leg led to his cancer diagnosis. Looking over at his wife of eight months, Alex, he then added "I mean, if I could be home healthy with my family, great, but not like this."
Miller's condition requires aggressive, ongoing chemotherapy, so returning to Iraq is out of the question. But while the 34-year-old Newton, New Hampshire resident feels frustrated at being denied the chance to continue helping his country and comrades, his fellow guardsmen insist he is still doing so.
"Scott has always been the strongest guy I've known, and how he's dealing with this is helping all of us who are still overseas," said Sergeant Kevin Dwyer, who has served with Miller for seven years and was able to attend the ceremony because it happened to coincide with a two-week leave from Baghdad. While the bulk of their unit wasn't so lucky, they were also able to enjoy the event — by phone from Iraq and let out a loud cheer heard through the tiny room when the promotion was officially announced.
Alex (left) and Scott Miller enjoy a quiet moment before the ceremony
"They brought the whole company together to tell us last month, and it was devastating," says Sergeant Kimberly Cronin, another member of Miller's unit now on two-week leave. "We're all like a family over there."
Carter echoed these sentiments during the formal ceremony, adding that, "Specialist Miller served with valor, and all of us are praying for a miracle so that the battle he's fighting today will be as successful as the battle he fought in Iraq."
Battle plan: Dana-Farber
Yesterday's chemotherapy session was actually Miller's second; the first came on Feb. 28 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, where he was sent after initial treatment in Germany. "He tolerated his first chemo treatment very well, with minimal side effects," said Nadine Jackson, MD, MPH, a Dana-Farber oncology fellow supervising Miller's care with attending physician Deborah Schrag, MD. "As long as he responds well, our goal is to keep him doing as well as he is — or better. He'll get another dose today, then go home for two weeks and come back."
Miller won't quite be following his doctors' orders, however. Rather than stay in New Hampshire for two weeks, he'll be leaving next Monday for eight days in Hawaii — a gift from his brother Mark Miller. There, Alex Miller says, they'll be sure to visit Pearl Harbor. "Then the battle plan will be Dana-Farber, chemotherapy, and making his life as long and pleasurable as we can." Alex was already working on this task yesterday, cutting up a congratulatory cake decorated with Scott's new sergeant stripes.
Tired from the day's events, but maintaining his positive outlook, Miller finished off his umpteenth media interview by offering a slight smile when a reporter asked about the seriousness of his condition.
"It doesn't look good," but we'll cure it," he said. "Then you can come back to do the story on the miracle cure of Sergeant Miller."
— Saul Wisnia
saul_wisnia@dfci.harvard.edu
