Doug Miller was born on January 27, 1945, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on February 17, 1965, and completed basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, in April 1965. After completing advanced Infantry training, Pvt Miller attended Special Forces Training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from July to December 1965, followed by service with Company C, 2nd Battalion of the 501st Infantry Regiment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, from December 1965 to February 1966. His next assignment was as an infantryman with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division in South Vietnam from March 1966 to February 1967, followed by service with Company B, 1st Battalion of the 506th Infantry Regiment at Fort Campbell from May 1967 until he left active duty on July 7, 1968. SSG Miller returned to active duty on August 29, 1968, and then served as an Operations Sergeant and Reconnaissance Team Leader with the Studies and Observation Group in South Vietnam from September 1968 to February 1971. His next assignment was as a Reconnaissance Team Leader and Intelligence Sergeant with the U.S. Army Vietnam Training Advisory Group in South Vietnam from February 1971 to February 1972, followed by service as with the 90th Replacement Battalion in South Vietnam from February to December 1972. He served as a Section Sergeant with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Bliss, Texas, from December 1972 to March 1973, and then as a Light Weapons Infantry Instructor with the Advanced Individual Training Brigades at Fort Bliss from March 1973 to February 1974. SFC Miller served as a Platoon Sergeant with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg from February 1974 to February 1976, and then as a Squad Leader and then Platoon Sergeant with Troop B, 2nd Squadron of the 9th Cavalry Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield and then at Fort Stewart, Georgia, from February 1976 to March 1979. His next assignment was as an Instructor and then Chief Instructor at the Recondo School with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, from March 1979 to October 1982, followed by service as a Platoon Sergeant with Headquarters, Hunter Army Airfield, from October 1982 to January 1985. He served as Operations NCO with the U.S. Army Element of the United Nations Command in South Korea from January to April 1985, and then as Supply Chief with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks from April to November 1985. 1SG Miller next served as 1st Sergeant for E Company of the 725th Maintenance Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, at Schofield Barracks from November 1985 to September 1986, followed by service as 1st Sergeant of B Company, 25th Supply and Transportation Battalion of the 25th Infantry Division from September 1986 to January 1988. After attending the U.S. Army Sergeant Major Academy, SGM Miller served as Senior Logistics NCO for the 1st Signal Brigade in South Korea from August 1988 to July 1989, and then as Command Sergeant Major for the 25th Supply and Transportation Battalion at Schofield Barracks from July to November 1989. His final assignment was as Senior Logistics NCO with the U.S. Army Logistics Assistance Office at Schofield Barracks from November 1989 until his retirement from the Army on December 1, 1992. Doug Miller died on June 30, 2000.

His Medal of Honor Citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. Miller, 5th Special Forces Group, distinguished himself while serving as team leader of an American-Vietnamese long-range reconnaissance patrol operating deep within enemy controlled territory. Leaving the helicopter insertion point, the patrol moved forward on its mission. Suddenly, 1 of the team members tripped a hostile booby trap which wounded 4 soldiers. S/Sgt. Miller, knowing that the explosion would alert the enemy, quickly administered first aid to the wounded and directed the team into positions across a small stream bed at the base of a steep hill. Within a few minutes, S/Sgt. Miller saw the lead element of what he estimated to be a platoon-size enemy force moving toward his location. Concerned for the safety of his men, he directed the small team to move up the hill to a more secure position. He remained alone, separated from the patrol, to meet the attack. S/Sgt. Miller single-handedly repulsed 2 determined attacks by the numerically superior enemy force and caused them to withdraw in disorder. He rejoined his team, established contact with a forward air controller and arranged the evacuation of his patrol. However, the only suitable extraction location in the heavy jungle was a bomb crater some 150 meters from the team location. S/Sgt. Miller reconnoitered the route to the crater and led his men through the enemy controlled jungle to the extraction site. As the evacuation helicopter hovered over the crater to pick up the patrol, the enemy launched a savage automatic weapon and rocket-propelled grenade attack against the beleaguered team, driving off the rescue helicopter. S/Sgt. Miller led the team in a valiant defense which drove back the enemy in its attempt to overrun the small patrol. Although seriously wounded and with every man in his patrol a casualty, S/Sgt. Miller moved forward to again single-handedly meet the hostile attackers. From his forward exposed position, S/Sgt. Miller gallantly repelled 2 attacks by the enemy before a friendly relief force reached the patrol location. S/Sgt. Miller's gallantry, intrepidity in action, and selfless devotion to the welfare of his comrades are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.