Iraq Veteran Made Sure Vietnam Veteran's Last Days Spent Loved

Veteran's final days of life at VA hospice prompt efforts to ensure dignity
The Daily Courier
Nanci Hutson
September 2, 2015

"Without a doubt, if it wasn't for that young man (Keith), the service would not have had the same complexion as it did," said Phil Whitehead, the coordinating ride captain. "He, singlehandedly, was responsible for making sure that veteran received the level of respect and recognition that he received.

Courtesy photo
John Keith poses for a photo with Richard Miller in his wheelchair at the VA hospice. Inset: Keith clasps Miller’s hand in his hospice room.

PRESCOTT - In the last five days of Vietnam veteran Richard Miller's life, his bedside companion was a two-tour Iraq veteran some 20 years his junior who wanted to be sure the Army soldier did not die alone.

Without formal permission from anyone, the former U.S. Navy sailor John Keith, 37, of Pine, opted to stand vigil with Miller, a patient in the Northern Arizona Veteran Affairs Health Care System' hospice. Miller died on the Fourth of July.

"I promised him that we would be brothers till the end," Keith said of the promise he made to the former U.S. Army combat medic.

The two became acquainted some four years ago when Miller connected with Keith through the online Facebook veteran community, OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) Veteran Community, he founded in 2009.
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