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West Virginia and Regional History Center
1549 University Ave.P.O. Box 6069
Morgantown, WV 26506-6069
Business Number: 304-293-3536
wvrhcref@westvirginia.libanswers.com
URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu
Jane LaBarbara
Administrative Information
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Rsearchers may access born digital materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.
Preferred Citation
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Thurman I. Miller Papers, A&M 4297, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Unpublished
Biographical / Historical
Thurman "T.I." Miller (November 26, 1919 - November 11, 2017) was a native of Otsego, in Wyoming County, West Virginia. He lived for almost fifty years in the community of Helen, in Raleigh County.
He joined the Marine Corps in 1939 and was decorated for his service on Guadalcanal and in other South Pacific battles. In the final year of World War II he taught at the prestigious Officers' Candidate Academy at Camp Lejeune. Although best remembered as a gunny sergeant, he left the Corps qualified as First Sergeant. In later years he served as President of the West Virginia Chapter of the storied First Marine Division.
After the war he began a four-decade career in the coal mining industry, becoming a master electrician and mechanic, and served as an officer in the United Mine Workers of America union. In the 1950s he attended Coyne Electrical School in Chicago.
After his retirement from mining in 1980 he stayed active, becoming a fine wood craftsman.
He was a frequent contributor of letters to the editor and opinion pieces to the Beckley newspaper and others, and found a third career late in life as a prize-winning author, beginning in 2001. He published five books: War and Work (2001); Coal Bloom (2003); Always Faithful, Always Free (2008); the Book of the Month Club selection Earned in Blood: My Journey From Old-Breed Marine to the Most Dangerous Job in America (2013); Suicide Creek (2012) (Miller wrote the foreword only); and Miner: A Life Underground (with son David T. Miller) (2015). He remained in contact with many of his Marine Corps friends and with every branch of his large extended family and included many of their memories in writing about his life and times. He was interviewed extensively by the World War II Museum in New Orleans and those recordings became part of the background for the HBO miniseries The Pacific.
Miller's family included his wife Recie, sons Gilbert and David, and daughter Gloria. He is interred at Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens in Prosperity, alongside his wife.
[Taken from Miller's obituary]
Scope and Contents
Papers of Thurman Irving "T.I." Miller (1919-2017), a native of southern West Virginia who served in the Marine Corps from 1939-1945, worked as a master electrician in the coal mining industry, and authored multiple books about both those experiences later in life.
The collection includes research material, genealogical material, drafts of his books, and other material. Formats include correspondence, clippings, ephemera, photographs, research materials and interviews, handwritten and typed book drafts and newspaper pieces, maps, schematics, audiovisual files, and more.
Subjects include Miller's participation in UMWA; his and others' time serving overseas in World War II, especially in Miller's unit, the K Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines; the Helen/Tams area of Raleigh County, WV; Coyne Electrical School which Miller attended; and more.
The collection also contains material pertaining to the following books, authored by TI Miller unless otherwise noted:
1. War and Work (2001)
2. Coal Bloom (2003)
3. Always Faithful, Always Free (2008)
4. Earned in Blood: My Journey From Old-Breed Marine to the Most Dangerous Job in America (2013) (This book included extracts from TI Miller's first three books, comprising about a third of Earned . The rest was new material generated by Thurman and his son David and factual research created by David in association with
St. Martins Press editors.)
5. Suicide Creek (2012) (TI Miller wrote the foreword only)
6. Miner: A Life Underground (with David T. Miller, 2015)
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- Coal miners
- Coal mines and mining -- Electric equipment
- Coyne Electrical School
- Helen (W. Va.)
- Miller family
- United Mine Workers of America
- United States. Marine Corps. Marine Regiment, 5th. Battalion, 3rd. Company K
- World War, 1939-1945
Container List
Various clippings about coal camps, the labor movement in West Virginia, the miners' march on Matewan, etc. Miller was a UMWA local official in various capacities. His father-in-law Dewey Marshall was also a UMWA national representative. See digital files for pictures related to this. Also includes Miller's first aid training certificates and electrical certification cards.
Miller joined the US Marines in 1939 and served with K Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, on Guadalcanal and New Britain, in addition to training and retraining in New Zealand, before returning to teach at the Officers' Candidate School at Camp Lejeune.
Folders include:
various research on Guadalcanal, New Britain and a reproduction of the first scout map for Guadalcanal;
clippings from magazines such as Guadalcanal Echoes and Old Breed News and USMC publication Leatherneck specific to Miller's campaigns;
letter from Pete Peters in regard to photograph of Weldon DeLong, with DVD of photograph (DVD includes 8 TIF files; DVD separated from collection, files available on request);
interview by University of Georgia student with M. O. Darsey regarding Guadalcanal service;
certificate of enrollment for Thurman Miller in National World War II Memorial;
copies of various magazine articles about Guadalcanal and other battles.
For military group photo, see oversize folder 1.
Scrapbook pages in the preceding Military folders from which items had to be removed for preservation were separated to this folder; in some cases, copies show the original arrangement of items and text on a page. Includes photos, clippings, Japanese government-issued Philippine 5 peso bill, stamps, and more.
Originals of drawings of farm tools commissioned from artist maybe Mavadene Brittain for use in the book "Coal Bloom." Copies of coalfield maps created by Chris DelAmmea, and letter (2002) concerning permission to use same.
Various Miller/Meadows/Rinehart genealogy, front pages from the family Bible with birth and marriage dates, copy of Miller family tree, spiral-bound volume entitled "William and Myra Miller, Their Ancestors and Children: A Social History" by Robert Sylvester. Xeroxed pages from the Reference book of Wyoming County by Mary Bowman regarding Franklin Sizemore, Miller's great-grandfather. Clippings from December 7, 1937, with photo and article regarding the death of Thurman Miller's brother Gilbert in a train wreck near Tampa, Florida. Letter from James Sparks regarding genealogy materials. Record of attendance signatures, Miller/Meadows/Rinehart family reunions 1982-2014.
Various correspondence, including regarding Miller service as president of the West Virginia First Marine Division, letters regarding K35 from James McEnery, Fred Miller, Gladys Farthing, letter to David Miller from Jim McEnery in regard to Thurman's writing, letter from Robert Crawford in Australia about "War and Work," letter noting acceptance of "War and Work" by Tamarack, jury review paper from West Virginia Humanities Council regarding same, letter from Frederick Armstrong at West Virginia Division of Culture and History in regard to "War and Work." Copy of a WWII V-mail from James McEnery to McEnery's step-brother. Letter from Stephen Ambrose (2001/08/10) regarding "War and Work." Letter from Jim Stone regarding Goettge patrol. Note from Tom Brokaw regarding "War and Work."
Miscellaneous newspaper and magazine articles featuring Thurman Miller and his work. Articles by David Miller about his work on Thurman's books. General articles from newspapers in Mullens and Beckley newspapers about coal mining. "Washington Times" article about Miller.
Helen is a small town along the Winding Gulf, one of the "model" coal camps, about sixteen miles south of Beckley, WV. Folder includes various research and correspondence, maps, news clippings, etc. in regards to Helen. TI Miller lived there for almost 50 years. Folder also includes copy of "West Virginia History Quarterly," Spring 1979, which includes the article entitled "The Development of Model Towns in the Coalfields" by former WVU Dean of Libraries Robert F. Munn. Also includes booklet regarding Stotesbury, a few miles north of Helen. Also includes research on the town of Tams and Major W.P. Tams as well as Stotesbury and the Winding Gulf area in general.
Miscellaneous Ephemera, including:
1946 pay stubs for Thurman Miller,
1932 letter to Eli Miller regarding lease from Pocahontas Coal Corporation,
1958 earnings withholding statement,
1903 receipt for William Miller from the sheriff of Wyoming County,
1933 contract for the lease of 1259 acres in Wyoming County, West Virginia from the Western Pocahontas Coal Company to E.C.
and Boyd Miller of the Pocahontas Coal Company for that year (at rate of $20 for the year),
1943 First Marine Division exchange cigarette coupon book number 10450,
and other material.
Fourth book draft materials were apparently extracted from the first three books with little new material at that point, in an attempt to attract a big publisher, and eventually ended up in "Earned in Blood," published by St. Martins in 2013.
Includes typescript autobiographical writing of Miller, including narrative regarding his experiences in World War II and of his experiences as a miner; may be original versions of material that eventually was used in "War and Work" and "Coal Bloom" books, with some handwritten note. There is also one portrait photo of Miller in uniform.
Includes a full-color copy of ad for Coyne training ("Free Railroad Fare" to Chicago); additional Coyne school information and Miller's grades/transcript. See the digital files for pictures of Coyne and Chicago in that era, as well as images from magazines e.g. the back of sci-fi magazines in the 1940s advertising a technical education at Coyne. Miller's "Miner" book includes screen captures of newspaper wanted ads for men who had been Coyne-trained.
Original copies of:
"St. Louis Star-Times", 1941/12/08;
"Mullens Advocate", 2002/03/10;
"Bluefield Daily Telegraph", 1964/08/29;
"Philadelphia Inquirer", 1945/08/15
Original materials were taken from four DVDs. Content of the DVDs is as follows:
DVD 1 – includes drafts of all six books (PDF and Word documents), research pictures of Cape Gloucester, New Britain, research
and photographs for "Miner: A Life Underground" book, miscellaneous genealogy files, material on Frank Goettge, research on
K Company in general, image of the Coal Heritage Award for research on coal mining and West Virginia awarded to Miller for
"Coal Bloom", research on Matanikau River in Guadalcanal, drafts of proposed book from James McEnery (TI's son David Miller
edited McEnery's eventual book, "Hell in the Pacific", from McEnery's notes), research on Operation Dovetail, press release
and PR for all Thurman Miller books, miscellaneous pictures from public domain sources such as the Library of Congress and
Wikimedia Commons for books and proposed books, and research, photos and drafts of "Suicide Creek" produced by David T. Miller.
DVD 2 – includes additional research for all books, over 100 photos from the author's personal collection, Internet research
regarding K35, video interviews with TI Miller by Rare Earth Productions, family pictures of the Miller/Meadows/Rinehart families,
interview from 1983 among approximately 10 surviving members of K35, telephone-recorded telephone interviews with TI Miller
and David T. Miller with K35 members James McEnery and WV native Slim Summerville. Also includes a complete digitized copy
of the "West Point Military Atlas of World War Two" created by David T. Miller, publicity photos of Thurman Miller in his
mining gear, pictures from military event at Fort Walton Beach, various contract drafts and materials for book "Earned in
Blood". Also includes high-resolution scan of wide-scale photograph of Helen school 1947, with children lined up in front,
believed to be the work of Red Ribble but unsigned. Also similar wide photograph approximately 9 x 50 of 1952 Constitutional
Convention of UMWA in Cincinnati, with TI Miller's father-in-law Dewey Marshall (Thurman's wife was Recie) visible. Also includes
high-res wide-scale image of town of Helen taken from the hill above town, possibly also Ribble, also 1947.
DVD 3 – includes video of additional book signings, television appearances, etc.
Additional digitized photographs (approx. 2500, mostly family albums). Includes a folder of very old family photos compiled
by TI's cousin Sue Ellen Gillespie.
Also includes recordings of Otsego Quartet--TI Miller and his sister Kathleen had a gospel quartet in the 1950s, with their
two cousins Bernice and Minnie Rinehart, and the Rinehart's daughter Karen on piano. They had a long-running show on WWYO
in Pineville and made numerous appearances throughout southern WV. They made a handful of 78s, none of which survive in good
condition. These digital copies were made from the best available; sound quality is low but one can get a sense of their style,
very much based in the shaped-note tradition the four members came up in, with piano on some (likely played by Karen).
DVD 4 - Digital images of TI Miller's WWII dog tags, ribbons, medals, citations, discharge papers, etc.
Researchers may access born digital materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.