Larry Miller preserved WW II legacies

When Larry and Donald Miller were growing up in Reading, their grandfather gave them a history lesson neither would ever forget.

Miklus Stofko, who emigrated from Slovakia to work at Carpenter Steel early last century, took the boys for a walk around the city in 1955.

When a Reading Railroad coal train passed, Stofko talked about the anthracite region where relatives were miners. At Reading Brewery, he noted its economic and cultural impact. Visiting a firehouse, he recounted the city’s role as one of the oldest departments in the country.

“This is who you are,” Stofko told his grandsons. “Your life will be much enriched if you know where you came from.”

“It had an impact on Larry and me,” Donald Miller, co-author of “The Kingdom of Coal,” confided on the occasion of his brother’s death.

Larry Miller died in his home near Albright College on March 8. He was 75 years old.

For several decades, Larry was a fixture in Reading’s public life.

He was a member of the Reading School Board for 14 years, serving as president for a time. He was a trustee of Reading Area Community College and, recently, a board member of the Reading Parking Authority.

After an early retirement from a career in business, Larry turned his attention to preserving the legacy of the Greatest Generation.

Fulfilling his grandfather’s dictum, he spent the last decade or so interviewing scores of World War II veterans for the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

Christian Miller, acting as videographer, accompanied his father to interview veterans in their homes from New Hampshire to Virginia.

“He made the veterans, who rarely talked of their wartime experiences, feel at ease,” said Christian, 46, who taught philosophy and history at I-Lead Charter School in Reading. “It came to him naturally.”

Larry shared the secret of his interviewing skills in a Reading Eagle story last year.

“I’d say to them,” he recalled, “just tell your story in a way your grandchildren can listen to.”

One of the WW II veterans Larry interviewed was Chuck Bednarik, Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame center/linebacker, who was a gunner in a bomber.

Dr. Nick Mueller, National World War II Museum president emeritus, said he had the good fortune to join Larry as he conducted numerous interviews of World War II veterans for the museum.

“I came to appreciate his serious intellect, wonderful historical imagination, and generous spirit,” Mueller said. “His enduring legacy and important work will continue to live on in the museum’s oral history collection.”

Larry played a behindthe-scenes role in several documentary films aired on the History Channel and HBO.

Playtone, the production company of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, hired him to prepare background information for “The Pacific,” a 10-part HBO miniseries based on the true stories of three Marines in the Pacific Theater during WWII.

He also worked on “The War in HD,” an Emmy-winning miniseries featuring rare World War II footage. Produced by Lou Reda Productions in Easton, it ran on the History Channel in 2009.

“Larry was a public historian,” Donald said. “He reached out to the public and brought to life buried history.”

Donald, a distinguished professor of history at Lafayette College, focused on the big picture with a series of books that include “Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys,” “Vicksburg: Grant’s Campaign That Broke the Confederacy” and “The Story of World War II.”

Larry recorded the saga of WWII from the viewpoint of foot soldiers who’d seen action at Omaha Beach, the Ardennes Forest and Iwo Jima.

“He loved to write about local people,” Donald said.

RON DEVLIN: READING EAGLE