A 2008 Distinguished Member Award is presented to Lieutenant Colonel Milton Lee Miller for his exemplary service to West Point, the West Point Society of the District of Columbia, his class, or to his community. Lee Miller has  exemplified the motto “Duty, Honor, Country” through distinguished and selfless service during the period 2004 - 08 while organizing and conducting a highly successful mentioning program for wounded military men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan

Many members of the West Point Society of D.C. work hard in support of local community activities, but Lee Miller stands out for his direct and personal impact on soldiers’ lives.  His cause is ambitious and straightforward: to provide one-on-one mentor support to those severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan to help them meet the challenge of rebuilding their lives.  To Lee, this means getting these wounded warriors to think about their future and to plan ahead, and to help them to take advantage of the available educational and vocational benefits available through the GI Bill and the VA Vocational Rehabilitation Program.

Lee’s mission started in November 2004 when a small group from the class of ’58 under his leadership started the West Point Wounded Warrior Mentoring Program to help the recovering wounded at Walter Reed Hospital.  Lee and three of his classmates talked to a number of these wounded men and women and found out that many had no idea what they would do once they left the Army. They were only vaguely aware of their possible future GI Bill and VA benefits.  Lee was determined to do something about this gap in the wounded soldiers’ rehabilitation process.  Despite carrying a heavy workload with his full-time civilian job at Walter Reed, as well as teaching MBA courses at night, Lee devoted his weekends and free hours to address this problem.   His most immediate task was to find additional members of the class of ’58 to volunteer as mentors.  He then put together a system to match each mentor with a wounded warrior and developed a “five-paragraph field order” outlining the program and its objectives. With help from the West Point Society of D.C., Lee recruited new mentors from other West Point classes who were urgently needed to take care of the many wounded asking for help.  Lee’s next step was to develop an excellent orientation and training briefing for new mentors with the assistance of  Kenny ‘61, a Vietnam amputee.

Lee’s recruiting effort has thus far resulted in the involvement of 19 West Point classes, two Naval Academy classes for the Marine wounded, an Air Force Academy class, and a Special Forces mentor group.  He has also enlisted assistance from education counselors, an orthopedic specialist, psychological experts, a traumatic brain Injury expert, and other specialists who have offered their services.  At the end of 2007, the West Point Wounded Warrior Mentoring Program was helping 174 of over 380 wounded in outpatient status at Walter Reed and at the Bethesda Naval Hospital.

Another key to the success of the program set up by Lee is the follow-on mentor effort. A database has been established to locate West Pointers throughout the country who can carry on the wounded-mentor relationship when the wounded warrior leaves Walter Reed and returns home.

Lee Miller’s outstanding leadership in developing and running the mentor program is of great service, not only to the wounded warriors and their families, but also to United States Army and the country.  His inspiration and devotion to this task are in keeping with the highest ideals of West Point.