Reflections of a Warrior

Miller served with the Army in Vietnam from 1966 to '72, winning the Medal of Honor and six Purple Hearts. Writing with Army captain Kureth he here discusses the attractions of combat: ``I loved it. I couldn't get enough.'' Miller is aggressively outspoken and repugnant about the business of killing (``Genuine killers are not to be confused with guys who simply spray the area and happen to kill someone'') and objectionably recalls that he nearly murdered his Vietnamese girlfriend for no particular reason (``To this day I'm not sure why I wanted to kill her''). After his Medal of Honor exploit his superiors consigned him to a psychiatric ward purportedly in order to remove him from the combat zone. Miller found peacetime duty almost unendurable (``My extensive combat skills and ass-kicking abilities were no longer needed'') but recovered his morale as an infantry instructor. He is still on active duty with the Army. (Apr.)