Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C./ERR -- During his recent visit to the Depot, the Commandant of the Marine Corps urged all Marines who decide to leave the Corps to live up to the values they have been taught since their introduction to the Corps.
He also encouraged those Marines to strive for greatness in the public sector, in jobs such as law enforcement and politics. Senator Zell Miller, a Democrat from Georgia, has been living by such lofty standards since before the current Commandant joined the Marines.
In his latest book, ?Corps Values: Everything You Need to Know I learned in the Marines,? Miller discusses the changes that occurred in his life after making the decision to join the Marines in 1953.
After dropping out of Emory University, Miller returned to his small-town home in Young Harris, Ga. One evening, he ended up in the Gilmer County Jail after a drinking and driving incident. It was during his stay in the ?drunk tank? that Miller made a life-changing decision.
?I decided to either cure or kill myself by signing a three-year enlistment with [the Marines],? said Miller in his book. ?The kill came almost before the cure, but it was the turning point of my life.?
Miller refers to his time in the Corps as the best decision he made in his life. It is, however, a decision he didn?t fully appreciate at the time.
?I never dreamed when I was in [the Marines] that it would leave the lasting effect it has on my life. Everything that has happened to me has been at least an indirect product of that decision.?
While in the Marines, Miller spent a brief time here at Parris Island doing various training before going to 10th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, N.C. During his stay here, Miller stayed in tents that stood near the Iron Mike monument, where the H&SBn. building now stands.
While serving as an artilleryman with the 10th Marines, Miller served under Lewis ?Chesty? Puller, who had just been named commanding officer of the 10th Marines.
Miller now jokes that he, along with many other Marines, recall serving under the Marine legend in the form of a ?fish story.?
?We all kind of stretch the truth when we say we served under Chesty,? he said with a laugh. ?I did serve under him, but so did 2,500 other young men.?
After more than a year with 10th Marines, Miller saw a posting on a bulletin board that changed his career path drastically.
?There was a flier on the bulletin board looking for military journalists,? recalls Miller. ?I inquired about the position and was off to [Naval Training Center] Great Lakes, Ill., for combat correspondent school.?
Miller spent the rest of his enlistment as a Marine journalist, a job that brought him in contact with countless memorable individuals.
During a recent plane ride, he read a newspaper article about a Medal of Honor recipient that had recently passed away. The article was written about the Marine?s accomplishments and heroism. As Miller read the article, he realized he had interviewed the Marine for ?The Globe? during his time at 2nd Marine Division.
After leaving the Marines, Miller returned to college, his Masters Degree at the University of Georgia.
After receiving his Masters Degree in History in 1958, he immediately began his political career as the mayor of his hometown in Young Harris, Ga.
During the prosperous career in politics that followed, Miller called on his time in the Corps as well as the strong influence of his mother, who raised him as a single parent, to guide him through adversity.
Miller credits his mother, as well as the time spent in the Corps, for all his life?s success.
Miller?s father died when he was 17 days old. His 6-year-old sister would watch the infant Miller while their mother, Birdie Bryan Miller, hauled rock after rock out of a nearby creek to build their house from the ground up.
The house stands today as the Miller family household, and Birdie?s handprints can still be seen in the concrete in certain places.
With respect and admiration comes a certain standard to live up to.
He recalls a deep feeling of regret the night he spent in jail after his drunk driving incident.
?That night I sat in jail with my head in my hands wondering how anyone could have sunk so low,? he said. ?How could anyone have done their mother so wrong??
While the lessons in Miller?s life were taught in varying styles by his mother and his drill instructors, they were virtually the same.
?Mamma used to say, ?take what you want,?? said Miller. ??Take what you want and pay for it. There?s a price for everything in life, good or bad.? The Marines enforced those beliefs in their own way. Accountability for your actions is a lesson I learned early and often.?
Miller has been one of the most well-liked and successful politicians in state and national history. In the 10 elections in which he has been the candidate, he has won seven of them.
After two terms as Georgia governor, he held an 85 percent approval rating.
After a short retirement from political office, the untimely death of Senator Paul Coverdell in July led Miller back into office, accepting an appointment to the U.S. Senate from Georgia Governor Roy Barnes.
This month, a seven-candidate election was held to permanently fill the seat vacated by Coverdell. Miller received an astonishing 58 percent of the vote, a number unheard of in a large special election.
The Washington Post called Miller the most popular governor in America in 1998, the same year he was named Governor of the Year.
It was Miller?s southern upbringing, easy-spoken manner, and ability to relate to the everyday Georgian that made him the most popular governor in recent history.
In a political environment where many leaders are identified by the stance they take on key issues and hot topics, avoiding the very things that define the careers of most politicians is the thing that Miller said has led to his staggering political success.
?Politicians fall into a trap of doing things for groups. I try to involve myself in programs that directly effect peoples? daily lives like the HOPE scholarship and creating jobs instead of social agendas that affect a group.
?No one stays up late at night debating gun control and abortions. They worry about how they?re going to pay for college or how they?re going to put food on their family?s table.?
The HOPE Scholarship is perhaps the single-most revolutionary policy put into place by a single politician in history.
Miller singly put into action a plan that funds college tuition at state schools for high school graduates paid for solely by lottery funds.
In 1997, President Bill Clinton adopted the HOPE Scholarship as a national plan.
A pioneer of education reform, Miller also instituted the Nation?s first voluntary pre-kindergarten program available for all children.
The program is also lottery-funded. In addition to improving education, Miller eliminated sales tax on groceries.
Even with the reduction in income from taxed grocery sales and two income tax cuts, the Georgia budget was in surplus, with residents reaping the benefits of a $1 billion tax cut.
Through all his accomplishments and awards, Miller has never lost sight of the training that has made him the man he is today.
?[Being a Marine] is something that will stay with you forever,? said Miller. ?That?s not just something the drill instructors tell you. It?s the truth.?
August 2003 will mark the 50th anniversary of Miller?s first trip to Parris Island, an event he plans to commemorate with a visit back to the place he credits with changing his life.
?Although it?s been 50 years and the world has turned many times, I can still hear my drill instructor calling platoon 311 to attention.?