The Marine (and Man) I Respect Most
By Bob Reutter
SEPTEMBER 2, 2024
Rumor has it that long ago when John Mills joined the United States Marine Corps, he was required to bring his own musket. Truth is that on May 20, 1947, a seventeen-year-old young man from Morganfield, Ky joined the United States Marine Corps and went to Parris Island, S.C. for boot camp.
After graduation John served at several different duty stations and by 1950 he was on the USS Albany (CA-123) serving on the security detail for a Navy Admiral. During a Med Cruise in June of 1950, John and every other able-bodied Marine received orders to report to Japan for service in Korea.
John was reclassified as 0336 (machine gun platoon leader) and after crash training his mostly reservist troops, made the landing at Inchon in September of 1950 with Hotel Company, 3rd Bn, 7th Marines. John was in constant action until December, during the Chosin campaign where his machine gun section helped hold the Toktong Pass open for the withdrawing Americans to escape from the Chinese encirclement. During this engagement in temperatures approaching minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit, John received 4 bullet wounds and severe frostbite in his feet. When he was finally loaded on a truck for evacuation, the truck was struck by a Chinese mortar round and overturned, crushing John’s feet and legs. He was eventually air-lifted to Japan (and finally Memphis, TN) where he underwent 15 months of surgery on his legs. He was told they would have to amputate his feet (he refused) and that he would never walk again. Never tell a Marine what he will never do! John was given a medical discharge from the Marines and went home to Southern Indiana to start a new life.
While his military career is impressive, that is not why John is so special to me. John went to work at the Crane Naval Weapons Center in Indiana. He met a young woman from Washington Indiana at a dance and on Jan. 31, 1953 they were married. They had 4 daughters and one son (ten grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren – so far.) John and Dottie decided at the start that John would be the breadwinner and Dottie would keep the house. For the next 65 years, this arrangement worked for them. John worked for 42 years as an automotive electrician, repairing alternators and generators for many different types of equipment and vehicles. Dottie kept the house, raised the children and tended to John, helping him through bouts of PTSD from his Chosin experiences. He credits Dottie with keeping his ‘balance’ through the years.
In 2017 Dottie’s health started to fail. Eventually, she was unable to care for herself and needed almost full-time care, transportation to three-times-weekly dialysis, and various doctor appointments. Marine John Mills, who had never cooked, shopped, washed clothes, or any of the myriad other household duties, learned how to care for Dottie and the home. He continued to do so until Christmas Eve of 2020 when Dottie’s frail body finally failed. Their children and grandchildren gathered from all over the country to share their grief and share the strength they had learned from John.
From 2010-2018 we ran a Toys for Tots program in Evansville, Indiana. We had 5 female volunteers who registered families for the program three evenings each week during the season. After driving around the area collecting toys all day, John would never leave in the evenings until all the ladies were safe in their cars. In the 20 years I have known John, he never once said anything negative about his Queen (his name for Dottie,) never complained about having to become the homemaker, caregiver or any of the other things most 90-year-old men never have to learn. John’s integrity, fortitude, and caring about others are qualities that young people today would be wise to emulate.
When the idea of starting a scholarship program for our Marine Corps League Detachment was initiated, it was only natural that it should be named the Sgt. John Mills USMC Scholarship. A remarkable man and a remarkable Marine.
