'I just can't understand why it happened but it still makes you understand that you're free, that you're available, that you're walking around in a free country because of guys like him. You really are. It's not cliché at all.'
And now, more than a decade after his death, a fallen soldier is being honored as a hero - by his community.On this Memorial Day, CBS 2's Jackie Kostek shares his story through the people who knew him, loved him and will never stop telling his story.
"One of his teammates surely spoke for all of them when he said of Rob, 'I would not be alive today if not for his ultimate sacrifice.'""We honor the life and service of Staff Sergeant Robert J Miller whose heroic actions on January 25, 2008 epitomize the gallant spirit of the men and women of our Armed Services," said then-President Barack Obama.
"The evening of 24th, his team, his ODA was tasked to go into the Konar Province," said Veteran Bobby Kaye, close friend of Rob Miller."Once the ambush happened, his team broke while he stayed and fought.""After 15 years of saying that, speaking about that story, reading the citation, the sworn statements, being there at the Medal of Honor ceremony in DC in 2010, naming my first son after him, keeping up with his family, it still hurts," Kaye said.
Kyle Padera teaches English at Wheaton North. He was a freshman on the gymnastics team when Kaye and Miller were seniors, captains who took the team to state.
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