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On the 9th of January, 1945 Major <em>Miller Payne Warren, Jr</em>., was killed aboard a Japanese prison ship when it was bombed by American forces as it lay at anchor in the harbor of Takao, Formosa. Major Warren was being transferred from the Philippines to Japan with other American prisoners of war. His death was a great and tragic loss to his family and friends. The Army and his country are the poorer for it for it ended the career of a soldier who had been tried and not found wanting.</p>
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“Boots”, the oldest son of Miller Payne and Martha Keith Warren, was born December 6, 1908 in Midlothian, Texas. Though he had no previous connections with the Army he early became imbued with the Army spirit and an intense desire to become a cadet at the Military Academy. The will to serve his country never faded and after attending Austin College he was finally admitted to West Point as New Cadet Warren in July, 1929. He was appointed from the 5th Texas Congressional District.</p>
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His cadet days were uneventful and he did not distinguish himself academically, being neither “goat” nor “engineer”. But upon graduation he did have the satisfaction of knowing that his commission had been earned.</p>
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“Boots” was graduated a Second Lieutenant of Infantry in June, 1933, and was assigned for duty with the 17th Infantry at Fort Crook, Nebraska. While stationed there he married Hazel L. Pratt of Ferris, Texas, a girl whom he had long known and loved, on March 24, 1935. The next year, April 7, 1936, Hazel presented him with a little daughter, Jans. Two months later he was made a First Lieutenant.</p>
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From Fort Crook, in May, 1935, Boots was transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he again did duty with the 17th Infantry. In June, 1937 he was assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia, as a student in the Regular Course, from which he was graduated in May, 1938. From Benning he was transferred to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, for duty with the 9th Infantry, and it was there that a second child was born to the Warrens on February 9, 1939, a son, Jon Miller.</p>
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In July of 1940 he reported to his first foreign duty station, Fort William McKinley, Philippines, for duty with the 57th Infantry (PS). It was mostly work and little play in this far-off tropical station. He worked tirelessly and ceaselessly to perfect the training of his company for the trial he always felt would come to this American outpost. His efforts bore fruit in the outstanding performance during the Bataan campaign of the company he had labored with. Boots was not with them then. In September, 1940, he was given a temporary Captaincy.</p>
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These were happy days for Boots and Hazel, with the children, but they were to soon be clouded, for in May, 1941, Hazel and the children returned to the United States with other families under War Department orders, and Boots was destined never to see his own little family again.</p>
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Though he keenly missed Hazel, Jans and Jon Miller, he never forgot the teachings of West Point and its motto, “Duty, Honor, Country” was almost his religion as he Immersed himself deeply in the serious business of preparing himself and his men for still darker days.</p>
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In August of 1941 the Philippine Army was inducted into the Armed Forces of the United States, and these ill-equipped and untrained units were sorely in need of competent instructors from the United States Army. The high regard with which Boots was held by his senior officers was evidenced in his selection by them to assist in the needed instruction. He was made Executive to the Senior Instructor of the 21st Division (P.A.). To him fell the lot of training the entire officer personnel of the division, and whether or not he successfully inspired in those men the qualities so essential to an officer in battle is adequately answered in the record of the 21st Division, which distinguished itself consistently in delaying actions from Lingayen Gulf to Bataan, and later in prepared battle positions in Bataan. The task given to Boots was to all but himself a hopeless one. By exercising extreme patience and initiative in the training of his officers they were as competent as any when the Japanese forces struck Luzon on December 8, 1941.</p>
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The day the war started he was made, in addition to his other duties, Assistant to the Senior Instructor of the 21st Infantry (P.A.), one of the Infantry regiments of the 21st Division (P.A.). He was as well aware as any other in the islands that the Philippine Army forces were not ready for combat, either in respect to training or equipment. The divisional artillery had not fired a shot in training, and one regiment of infantry had not even been issued rifles. But Boots welcomed the war gleefully, for this was the business end of the business for which he had prepared himself and struggled over practically insurmountable odds to prepare his men. He was soon to see the effectiveness of his own leadership and devotion to his duty, for there was little else to fight with.</p>
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The 21st Infantry was assigned to beach defense on Lingayen Gulf, between the towns of Sual and Lingayen, and Boots hurriedly preceded it there with Filipino staff officers to reconnoiter the beach. He continuously checked positions, fortifications and continuous training, going several days without food or sleep until he was satisfied the best had been done. He promptly removed incompetent Filipino officers and American assistant instructors, and inspired a great confidence for himself in the men. Training continued on the beaches, and Boots’ devotion to his job and his endless source of energy left no doubt in the minds of his junior instructors what was expected of them. Some recognition of his efforts came with his Majority on December 19, 1941.</p>
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When units on the right of the 21st Infantry were forced back by the Japanese forces, Boots planned its withdrawal to escape being cut off. The 21st Infantry withdrew from the gulf down Highway 3, the main artery of Luzon, fighting continuous delaying actions and suffering extremely heavy casualties but never leaving a delaying position ahead of the scheduled hour. The tenacity of purpose at each position was but a reflection of Boots himself, who was constantly with the combat elements, lending advice and encouragement and frequently bolstering courage with examples of his own.</p>
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The first day on Bataan was spent in wound-licking behind a line of fresh troops and in reorganizing the decimated 21st Infantry. It became a battalion, but it was still Boots’ child, and he, though an instructor and officially with no command function, guided its destiny to the end, through successive positions on Bataan, including the great slaughter on Mount Samat. During the battle on Mount Samat the Senior Instructor was killed and Boots inherited his job, though for only a short time, for the Bataan forces surrendered, starved for food and supplies, a week later.</p>
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With the surrender of Bataan on April 9, 1942 he made his way to Corregidor convinced that the fight and his usefulness were not over. There he again proved his worth in an advisory capacity to a Marine unit charged with a sector of beach defense on the island. When Corregidor fell on May 6, 1942 he was made captive by the Japanese forces and remained so until his death.</p>
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Shortly after the surrender he was transferred to the infamous Cabanatuan Prison Camp, Nueva Ecija, Luzon, with the Corregidor personnel. There he remained until the Japanese sent a large detail of prisoners to Davao, Mindanao, in October of 1942. Boots was in this group and remained in a prison camp near Davao until American forces again invaded the islands. He was then transferred to Manila with other prisoners to await shipment to Japan to prevent their recapture. The disappointment he felt was great for he knew that liberation was at hand. He embarked on a prison ship in Manila Bay on December 13th, 1944 for Japan but the voyage was of short duration for the ship was bombed by American forces and beached off Olongapo in Subic Bay on the following day. He was among the survivors who managed to swim ashore, escaping the machine gunning of the swimming prisoners. He was shipped out again from San Fernando, La Union, on December 25, 1944, and the long voyage to Japan began again, under indescribable conditions. While the ship was anchored in Takao Harbor, Formosa, for refueling before continuing the voyage to Japan proper, it was bombed by American planes, and most of the prisoners held in the holds were killed. Boots was among these and was killed instantly. He died a soldier’s death in the service of his country.</p>
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He was awarded the Silver Star for his heroic work and courageous actions during the early and trying days of the war. He has been recommended for a posthumous award of the Legion of Merit. Those of us who served under him shall always find in his memory a guiding star in his unselfish devotion to his duty and his family. Few men have equaled him in these qualities.</p>
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He is survived by his mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Miller Payne Warren; two brothers, Harris and Keith; by his wife, Hazel; his daughter and son, Jans and Jon Miller, and by his country. He never failed any of these.</p>
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<em>—A Friend</em></p>
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