Over the last few years, Kyle Miller has interviewed and documented the stories of more than 200 war veterans, and he has no interest in slowing down.
The home-schooled Pickerington Boy Scout started Voices from the Front in December 2011 with an ambitious goal: 1,000 interviews with veterans. It started out as an Eagle Scout project, but it quickly took on a life of its own.
Now 16, Miller began developing an interest in history when he was 10, and got into learning the stories of veterans at age 12 when he read a news article about veterans sharing stories with young people. To learn more, he joined the Alton Litsenberger chapter of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, which meets six times a year in Westerville.
“My great-grandfather served in that battle,” Miller says.
After attending some meetings, Miller realized the veterans’ stories needed to be documented. He first started his interviews as material for a book, then expanded the scope as his Eagle Scout project.
That book, A Generation of Heroes, was published in December 2012. It consists mainly of interviews of Litsenberger chapter veterans and a written history that Miller researched. A link to buy it can be found on the Voices from the Front website, www.voicesfromthefront.org.
As of late June, the project had collected about 230 interviews. Miller conducts many of them himself, with others being conducted by friends, fellow Scouts and other interested people. An interview guide with basic questions and suggestions for more in-depth questions can be found on the Voices from the Front website.
“When I started, it was just me and a few volunteers in the southern Columbus area, but now we’ve done interview events all over central Ohio,” Miller says. “I’ve also done phone interviews with veterans in places like California, Florida and Colorado.”
Most of the veterans profiled thus far saw combat in World War II. Others served in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm and the more recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Miller even has an account of World War I from the son of a veteran of that war.
With so many conversations under his belt, it’s tough for Miller to pick out the most interesting stories, but there are a few that quickly jump to his mind.
One was told by a World War II veteran named Dante Guzzo, who died in December. Miller was impressed by the sense of humor Guzzo maintained while talking about the dangerous missions in which he took part.
“He was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Cloth, which is the second-highest medal … you can get in the Army,” Miller says. “He single-handedly took out two German pillboxes and took 14 prisoners when his squad was pinned down and isolated from the rest of their platoon.”
Miller also recalls the first story he heard from a veteran who had served: Frank Walsh, who still remembered being unable to help a fellow American soldier who was calling for help because he did not have his rifle with him. Even 64 years later, Walsh – who died in 2010 – was still haunted by the man he could not save, Miller says.
“It was very moving to see the emotion that he had,” he says.
The goal of 1,000 interviews remains, but Miller won’t stop at that if there are more veterans to talk to.
“If I were to hit above that, I would be absolutely thrilled,” he says.
And he does more than just interview. Miller also frequently speaks about his project and shares the stories of veterans he’s talked to at churches, veterans’ group meetings, senior centers and schools, particularly around Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
Miller hopes to earn his Eagle Scout certification by September; he only has a few steps to go. He still has another two years of high school left, but has thought about history and political science as possible college majors.
Miller has four siblings – one brother and three sisters. His parents are Bill and Margot Miller.
More information on Voices from the Front, including interview opportunities and veteran profiles, is available at the organization’s website. Miller can also be reached by phone at 740-675-1116 or by email at kyle.miller@voicesfromthefront.org.
Garth Bishop is editor of Pickerington Magazine. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
