Wheaton native Robert Miller honored on Memorial Day and everyday; 'It still hurts'

CHICAGO (CBS) -- He's been described as a quiet professional who was never in it for the accolades.

And now, more than a decade after his death, a fallen soldier is being honored as a hero - by his community.

Robert Miller was a Wheaton native who was posthumously awarded the medal of honor in 2010.

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.  

Robert James Miller had just started his senior year at Wheaton North High School when the planes hit the towers. Seven years later, he died an American hero on a battlefield in Afghanistan. He was 24 years old.

"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.'"

In 2010, Miller was awarded the nation's highest medal of valor, the Medal of Honor. 

"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 heroics of that night detailed in a five-page citation. It's a story Miller's close friend Bobby Kaye knows by heart.  

"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."

 "As he kept pushing, he was struck, underneath his chest plate and continued to fight," Kaye said.

"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.

In the 15 years since Miller gave his life, Kaye has kept his memory alive. Kaye isn't alone. At Wheaton North High School, daily reminders of the heroism of someone who walked the halls not too long ago.

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.

"The more we can bring people up and show that they were real. It helps a lot. The connection I had with him. He was tough. He was tough on me," Padera said.

Padera shares memories of Miller as a way to humanize a young man memorialized throughout the school. Now the head gymnastics coach, Greg Gebhardt, was then an assistant.

"Gymnastics is hard and Rob started as a freshman. He was a state finalist. That doesn't happen without a lot of dedication. I think that story transcends. Not necessarily what he did in combat which was tremendously heroic. But the ideals that he had," Gebhardt said.

Remembered and honored as the human he was. On this Memorial Day, and every day.

"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," Kaye said.

The full heroics of what Miller did on January 25th, 2008 are detailed here. 

In:
• Medal of Honor
• Memorial Day