Joseph Mayer Miller was born at Greenfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts on April 22, 1922. His friends called him Joe and Yussel. His parents were Samuel Harry Miller (called Harry) (15 May 1887 – 16 Aug 1959), who immigrated from Poland about 1907; and Leah (Block) Miller (25 Dec 1896 – 26 Sep 1960), who was born in Massachusetts; his mother's parents were born in Russia. He had a younger brother, Louis Miller (19 Mar 1925 – 1 May 1980); and a younger sister, Marilyn Ann Miller (8 Jul 1931 – 4 Sep 1976). By 1930 the family lived at 180 Wells Street in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and his father was a dry goods salesman. In 1940 his father was a cattle dealer.

He graduated from Greenfield High School in June 1940. After high school he worked for his father in the cattle business. In June 1942 he married May 'Cissy' (Solomon) Miller (later Blyden) (11 Nov 1921 – 16 Apr 2011) at Worcester, Massachusetts, her hometown. He registered for the draft at Liberty, New York on June 30, 1942. He was 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighed 159 pounds, and had brown eyes and brown hair. At that time he and his wife lived at 64 Vassar Street in Worcester, and he worked for Harry Solomon, his wife's father, in an occupation related to packing, filling, and labeling. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, on October 22, 1942. In 1944 his wife lived at 7 Monroe Avenue, Worcester, Massachusetts.

He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery training, and was assigned as a waist gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Lloyd W. Kersten. The Kersten crew completed B-17 operational training at Dyersburg Army Air Base, Tennessee, and was assigned to the 836th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group, at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The crew arrived at Station 137 by July 24, 1944, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

S/Sgt Miller and six of his crewmates were killed in action on November 30, 1944, when their aircraft, B-17G 43-37877, was shot down by flak. The target was the large I. G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Leuna near Merseburg, Germany. As the 487th Bomb Group formation approached the initial point of the bomb run near Triptis, the radar set in the lead ship malfunctioned, and the deputy lead ship took over the lead for a visual run. The bombardier in that ship couldn't pick out the Leuna refinery through the smokescreen and the flak, so he chose to drop on what was thought to be a refinery in the vicinity of Zeitz. At 1:15 PM, just after bombs away, Lt Kersten's B-17 received direct flak hits and went down in the vicinity of Theiίen, just north of Zeitz, Germany. Lt Hyland and Lt Ritchhart bailed out before the aircraft exploded, and survived as prisoners of war. The bombs struck the eastern outskirts of Zeitz, about 19 miles southeast of the assigned target.

S/Sgt Miller's remains were reinterred at Greenfield Hebrew Congregation Cemetery (also called Temple Israel Cemetery) in Greenfield, Massachusetts on November 1, 1948. He is honored on the Newton Square Veterans Memorial near the traffic circle at Newton Square, Worcester, Massachusetts.

B-17G 43-37877 crew:
• Kersten, Lloyd W – 1/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Gerland, Henry E – 1/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Hyland Jr, James W – 1/Lt – Navigator – POW
• Ritchhart, Warren H – 1/Lt – Bombardier – POW
• Eberhart, John D – T/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Shegal, Arnold R – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Morrison, Everett S – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Sullivan, Maurice J – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – KIA
• Miller, Joseph M – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com