Bench to be dedicated to Ohioan killed in Vietnam

Associated Press

NEW FRANKLIN, Ohio

Spurred by an impromptu $100 donation, a Vietnam vet plans to dedicate a bench at Ohio Veterans Memorial Park to a Marine who died in the war 43 years ago clutching a grenade to spare two nearby servicemen.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports Marine Pfc. Burt Everett Miller, known as Rusty by his friends, died Nov. 4, 1968, when he took the full force of the grenade that had landed on his chest.

Gary Kindig of New Franklin, south of Akron, had served with the 101st Airborne and returned home about two weeks before the death of Miller, one of his best friends from their Manchester High School days.

Now 63, Kindig and another friend were visiting the Memorial Park in Clinton this summer when Kindig said he’d like to honor Miler with a bench.

The friend pulled a $100 bill from his pocket, starting Kindig on a mission.