USS Milius DDG 69 / Captain Paul Lloyd Milius / Arleigh Burke class Guided Missile Destroyer – US Navy

	s e a f o r c e s – online						Naval Forces Technology, History & Information
Guided Missile Destroyer
DDG 69 - USS Milius
		USS Milius (DDG 69)								US Navy photo
Type, Class:		Guided Missile Destroyer; Arleigh Burke – class / Flight I; planned and built as DDG 69;
Builder:		Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA
STATUS:		Awarded: April 8, 1992; Laid down: August 8, 1994; Launched: October 28, 1995; Commissioned: November 23, 1996; ACTIVE UNIT/ in commission (Pacific Fleet)
Homeport:		San Diego, California, USA
Namesake:		Named after and in honor of Captain Paul Lloyd Milius (1928 – 1968); > see history, below;
Ship's Motto:		> ALII PRAE ME < ‘Others before myself’
Technical Data: (Measures, Propulsion, Armament, Aviation, etc.)		see: INFO > Guided Missile Destroyer / Arleigh Burke - class.
Pictures, photos & more ...
Paul Lloyd Milius
Photo credits: US Navy, US Naval Historical Center,
Namesake & History:
Captain Paul Lloyd Milius (February 11, 1928 – February 27, 1968);
DDG 69 is named in honor of the Navy pilot Captain Paul L. Milius. He was born 11 February, 1928, the youngest of four children, in Denver, Iowa, a small, rural community in Bremer County in the northeastern part of the state. He and the fifteen other members of the senior class graduated from Readlyn High School in May of 1946. In April of 1946, just weeks before graduation, Captain Milius received his selective service notification and reported to his pre-induction physical examination at the local examining board on the second floor of the Waverly Savings Bank building in Waverly, Iowa. By 21 May of that year, the eighteen year old son of C. H. and Christina Milius was in "boot camp" at the Naval Training Center in San Diego, California, serving on active duty in the United States Navy. Captain Milius was discharged from active duty in March of 1948. His enlisted naval experience in the aviation community had only enhanced his lifelong intrigue with aircraft and his desire to fly. Knowing the route to the cockpit begins with a college degree, he enrolled in Iowa State Teacher's College, now the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls. Captain Milius continued to serve in the Naval Reserve throughout his time in college. In 1950, after attaining a two year degree, he applied for and was accepted into the Naval Aviation Cadet (NAVCAD) Program. In August 1950, he was back on active duty at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, attending the U.S. Naval School, Pre-Flight course. He successfully completed this course on 16 December 1950 and was sent to advanced training at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas. On 16 December 1951, Aviation Cadet Milius was awarded the naval aviator's wings of gold. On 21 December, he accepted the appointment and took the oath of office as an Ensign in the United States Naval Reserve with the naval aviator's designator of 1325. On 30 December, he married his high school sweetheart (and class valedictorian), Darlene Meyerhoff. Captain Milius' early duty assignments as a naval aviator trained him in the Airborne Early Warning community. He spent the first three years of his career, from 1952 through 1955, attached to Airborne Early Squadron TWO (VW-2) at Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland, where he gained extensive experience flying the multi-engine Lockheed Constellation (WV-1) aircraft. He was subsequently posted to the Naval Air Station at Hutchinson, Kansas, where he served as a flight instructor for the P-2V patrol aircraft until 1957. His daughter, Annette, and son, David, were born during these years. Following two years as a student at the General Line School in Monterey, California, then Lieutenant Milius was assigned to Air Anti-Submarine Squadron TWENTY-THREE in San Francisco flying the S-2 aircraft. He served briefly with Air Antisubmarine Squadron TWENTY-FIVE in Long Beach, California, before he was reassigned to ship's company onboard the aircraft carrier USS KEARSARGE (CVS-33). There he served in a variety of duties including Catapult and Arresting Gear Officer from November 1960 through November 1962. While onboard KEARSARGE, Captain Milius participated in the mission to retrieve Walter Schirra's Mercury "Sigma 7" space capsule in 1962 and made two Western Pacific deployments. In 1962, now Lieutenant Commander Milius was assigned to Naval Air Station, Miramar, California, where he served with Air Antisubmarine Squadron FORTY-ONE (VS-41), filling a variety of squadron billets specifically related to antisubmarine warfare and S-2 aircraft tactics. Following an assignment as Airborne ASW training officer at the Fleet Air Electronic Training Unit Pacific, in Alameda, California, then Commander Milius volunteered for duty in the newly established Observation Squadron SIXTY SEVEN (VO 67). The new unit utilized converted P-2V aircraft, now known as the OP-2E, heavily armored and fitted with advanced land detection systems, for ground reconnaissance missions. The squadron deployed to Khon Phnom Airport in Thailand in 1967 and immediately began flying surveillance missions in the vicinity of the Ho Chi Min Trail. At 1157 local time on February 27, 1968, Commander Milius and the crew of his OP-2E aircraft were on an operational surveillance mission over Laos when the aircraft was hit in the radar well by a large explosive projectile, presumed a 37MM antiaircraft fire. One crew member was mortally wounded by the initial blast and fire broke out in the aircraft. As it became clear that the aircraft could not be saved, Captain Milius took the controls from the pilot, Lieutenant Bernie Walsh, and gave the crew the order to bail out. Captain Milius continued to control the aircraft to enable his crew to escape. Of eight surviving crew members of the initial blast, all but Captain Milius were safely rescued on the ground by the 37th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron Jolly Green Giants. Although Captain Milius was seen exiting the burning aircraft, heavy enemy fire in that area led to search efforts being discontinued before he could be recovered. He was subsequently declared Missing In Action in Southeast Asia in 1968. Captain Milius' status was changed to Presumed Killed In Action ten years later. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross in 1978. Warship Milius’s motto, “ALii Prae Me”, or “Others Before Myself”, was chosen to reflect the Personal ethic held throughout Captain Milius’ military career and his selfless act under fire.
The Lockheed P2 Neptune was originally designed for anti-submarine warfare using magnetic detection gear or acoustic buoys. Besides flying maritime reconnaissance, the aircraft served as an exceptional night attack craft in the attempt to interdict the movement of enemy truck convoys. The OP2E, which usually carried a crew of nine, was used to drop electronic sensors to detect truck movement along the supply route through Laos known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The Neptune had precise navigational equipment and an accurate optical bombsight. Its radar was housed in a well in the nose underside of the aircraft, and the radar technicians who were stationed in it felt especially vulnerable working in this "glass bubble". It was believed that the aircraft could place the seismic or acoustic device within a few yards of the desired point. To do so, however, the OP2E had to fly low and level, which made it an easy target for enemy anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) site that were increasing in number along the trail. On 27 February 1968, Commander Paul L. Milius, pilot; and ATN2 John F. Hartzheim, Aviation Electronics Technician Second Class, were part of a nine-man crew conducting a midday armed reconnaissance mission along Route 137, the primary road that ran through the Ban Karai Pass, Khammouane Province, Laos. This area of eastern Laos was considered one of two major gateways into the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail. When North Vietnam began to increase its military strength in South Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary, as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. This border road was used by the Communists to transport weapons, supplies and troops from North Vietnam into South Vietnam, and was frequently no more than a path cut through the jungle covered mountains. US forces used all assets available to them to stop this flow of men and supplies from moving south into the war zone. At approximately 1300 hours, the crew of the Neptune was in the process of delivering ordnance on their assigned target when a single 38mm AAA shell struck the aircraft. A projectile struck the underside of the aircraft and exploded in the radar well. ATN2 Hartzheim was wounded by fragments of the projectile and began to bleed profusely. Other members of the crew, including Cmdr. Milius, were slightly wounded by shrapnel. Shortly thereafter the radar well burst into flames that filled the flight deck area with dense, acrid smoke. As soon as Cmdr. Milius determined the aircraft was no longer airworthy, he reported their position to the airborne command and control aircraft, requested an immediate search and rescue (SAR) operation be initiated and ordered the crew to bail out. The Tactical Coordinator carried ATN2 Hartzheim to the after section. Upon arriving in the after station, John Hartzheim stated that he could not go any farther, and collapsed. Other crewmembers later stated in their debriefings that they believed he died at this time because his eyes were wide open and rolled to an upward position, and there was no movement. The bombardier/third pilot reported that he saw Paul Milius sitting at the after-station hatch and that the Neptune's pilot bailed out just prior to his own departure. The aircrew bailed out of the aircraft as it entered a steep climb before crashing into the rugged jungle covered mountains that were heavily populated by communist forces approximately 2 miles southeast of Route 137 and 15 miles southwest of the Ban Karai Pass. When search aircraft arrived in the area of loss, they immediately heard the crew's emergency beepers. Subsequently seven crewmen were rescued. A search effort on 29 February, Operation Texas Crest, continued for Paul Milius, but failed to locate any trace of him. While searching for the downed crew, SAR personnel did locate the wreckage of the Neptune. At the time they were only able to examine the burned wreckage from the air. Later they reported that they believed no identifiable remains would be found for ATN2 Hartzheim whose body had been left aboard. At the time the formal search as terminated, John Hartzheim was listed Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered while Paul Milius was listed Missing in Action. In August 1968, a NVA soldier whose unit moved south along Route 137 during the same timeframe that the Neptune was shot down defected to US control. He reported that during infiltration, his unit captured a US Colonel with a survival radio. The approximate date of capture was March 1968, but the precise location was not pinpointed. Military intelligence personnel considered the defector's information truthful, correlated this report to Cmdr. Milius and placed a copy of it in his casualty file. Paul L Milius and John F. Hartzheim are among the nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. Many of these men were known to be alive on the ground. The Laotians admitted holding "tens of tens" of American Prisoners of War, but these men were never negotiated for either by direct negotiation between our countries or through the Paris Peace Accords that ended the war in Vietnam since Laos was not a party to that agreement. In January 1985, a Lao refugee turned several human bone fragments, a compass and a plastic Escape-and Evasion (E&E) map to the Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC) Liaison Office in Bangkok. The Lao indicated that the items were recovered from a location near a 1968 crash site  of a US aircraft in Khammouan Province. After examination by the Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CIL-HI), the remains were determined to be human, but no further identification was possible. In December 1986, another Lao refugee offered remains and a dog tag allegedly belonging to ATN2 Hartzheim. In October and December 1994, joint teams from the Joint Task Force for Full Accounting (JTFFA) traveled to Khammouan Province to interview several villagers with information about this crash. While surveying the crash site, the team found aircraft wreckage, a fragment of possible knife sheath and human remains. Successive visits in 1995 and 1996 recovered more remains, life support equipment and other crew-related items. The crash site was closed on 5 November 1996. The possible human remains were transported to the Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CIL-HI) for examination and possible identification. The remains recovered during the joint excavations were added to those bone fragments turned over by the Lao in 1985. On 19 February 1999, these remains were identified as John Hartzheim. Shortly thereafter they were turned over to his family for burial. John Hartzheim's fate is finally resolved and his family and friends have the peace of mind of knowing where their loved one lies. For Paul Milius only questions remain. There is no question he bailed out of his crippled aircraft over territory under total enemy control. If he reached the ground safely, he most certainly could have been captured and his fate, like that of other Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, could be quite different. Under the circumstances, there is every reason to believe the Vietnamese or Lao could return Paul Milius or his remains any time they had the desire to do so. Since the end of the Vietnam War well over 21,000 reports of our government has received American prisoners, missing and otherwise unaccounted for. Many of these reports document LIVE American Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout Southeast Asia TODAY. Pilots and aircrews in Vietnam were called upon to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and they were prepared to be wounded, killed or captured. It probably never occurred to them that they could be abandoned by the country they so proudly served. On 28 October 1995 the United States Navy granted Commander Paul L. Milius exceptional recognition by naming the first Navy ship for a POW/MIA from the Vietnam War in his honor.
USS Milius (DDG 69):
… DDG 69 history wanted …
… and patches …
>> seaforces.org