Ron Miller shares his scrapbook and this photograph of him dressed in his army uniform, circa 1967.

Recollections of days as a U.S. army communications specialist in Ethiopia.

In 1967, Florence-resident Ron Miller spent his Christmas inside the U.S. Army Red Sea Rest Center in Massawa, Ethiopia, while temperatures reached a scorching 130 degrees outside in the African country.

“We stepped outside and then stepped back in because it was so hot,” he recalled.

Miller, then 20 years old, was a communications specialist for the U.S. Army Security Agency (ASA). He was stationed in Asmara, Ethiopia, but would travel to the air-conditioned rest center for the holiday.

His sleeping accommodations at the station were minimal: two army cots — bunkmate included — divided by a small foil Christmas tree, giving new meaning to the words “close quarters.”

He would post greeting cards from friends and relatives on the back wall, a constant reminder of what he was missing back home.

“It was an honor to serve,” said Miller, now 62. “It makes you grow up, and it changes your perspective on life.”

On the brink of Veterans Day, Nov. 11, Miller recollected the time he served for the United States of America.

Miller’s family moved to Florence in 1948, a year after he was born in Oregon City, Ore. His father was an army veteran of World War II; his brother also served in the military.

In 1965, Miller graduated from Siuslaw High School and enrolled at Oregon State University, but he only stayed at the college for a year. He enlisted in the ASA in August 1966 over fears of being drafted to serve in Vietnam.

“I knew if I was drafted, I would have been put into the infantry,” he said. “… I had friends who went over there and they talked about all the killing and death and everything they witnessed. It played on their minds pretty bad, and I was fortunate I didn’t have to go through that.”

For about seven months, Miller trained at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga., before receiving his orders in May 1967 to go to Asmara.

Both cities of Asmara and Massawa are now part of the country Eritrea, which gained independence from Ethiopia in 1991.

“Two weeks after I got there, Israel attacked Egypt in that six-day war, so we were all put on red alert and had to carry side arms,” Miller said.

The Six-Day War took place from June 5 through 10 in 1967 and was initiated by Israel against Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Israelis believed the three Arab states were coordinating a massive attack on the country and decided to counter the impending strike.

As the army’s communications specialist, Miller encrypted and decrypted messages that were sent to other places in the world, including Iran, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States.

“All around the world we had posts that we’d send these messages to,” he said.

Miller was stationed on a plateau 8,000 feet above sea level, a perfect height for the army’s 80-foot and 120-foot large satellite dishes to receive and send microwave transmissions.

At the time, the satellites primarily were focused on Europe and Russia. Miller said several linguists, who could speak multiple languages such as Russian and Italian, would break the coded messages.

Miller and other communications specialists would encrypt and decrypt the messages at the Comm Center using KL-7 cipher machines.

“You had to proofread every single line, and every number or letter had to be perfect so the message wasn’t garbled,” Miller explained.

The messages were top secret, and inside the station was a sign that read, “What you see here, what you hear here, when you leave here, stays here.” Miller also had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

“It was all top secret. We weren’t supposed to discuss it with anybody,” he said.

One message that he encrypted, however, said a Russian ambassador had broken his leg in a rickshaw accident in Japan. Miller said it is unknown if the message was true or a hidden code.

On his days off from the base, Miller would ride a Honda motorcycle — his primary mode of transportation — throughout the country. He also remembers paying 40 cents for a camel ride, chasing gazelles with a friend’s jeep and meeting Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie.

“I had a lot of fun over there, but I don’t think I want to go back,” he said. “It’s a very different culture.”

Miller left Ethiopia in 1969 to finish his last 14 months of service at the ASA near Washington, D.C. He served a total of four years in the army.

Although he was offered a $10,000 enlistment bonus and a rank increase, he declined.

“After four years, I had enough and wanted to come back to Oregon,” Miller said.

He eventually went back to college and enrolled in Lane Community College, specializing in civil drafting.

Miller has worked for 11 years as the City of Florence Public Works manager, providing the mapping for the city. His wife is Barbara Miller, and together they have three children and five grandchildren.

Oh, and he still rides a motorcycle to this day: a 2006 Yamaha road bike.

For the complete article see the 11-10-2009 issue.

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