WWI · Battle Death Record
James Miller
Captain, U.S. Army Air Service · New York
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- James Miller
- Entered the Service From
- New York
- Rank
- Captain
- Service
- U.S. Army Air Service
- Unit / Regiment
- 95th Aero Squadron
- War
- WWI
- Date of Death
- March 9, 1918
- Awards
- Distinguished Flying Cross (posthumous, 2017), Purple Heart
- Burial / Memorial
- Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial, Seringes-et-Nesles, France
- Grave
- Plot A, Row 19, Grave 23
Their story
Captain James Ely Miller commanded the 95th Aero Squadron and on 9 March 1918 was killed in aerial combat over the Champagne sector of France, becoming the first U.S. Army aviator killed in combat in World War I. Initially buried by the Germans near Laon, his remains were later moved to the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, where he rests today. He received the first Distinguished Flying Cross awarded for World War I service, presented posthumously in 2017.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.