Descent From Niitaka, First Flag Over Japan

By Robert D. Miller

Paperback, 338 pp., 134 b&w illustrations, index, and bibliography.
ISBN 0-9722854-0-7. $19

Here are the thoughtful, detailed memoirs of a WWII Air Corps meteorologist converted to air traffic and air defense controller who latterly became a member of the unique "Flying Circus." MacArthur’s leap-frog campaign took author from New Guinea to Japan in three amphibious and three airborne operations and included his detached service as a lieutenant in the Air Force who stood daily watches conning a Navy destroyer on combat patrol in mined waters during an invasion. In these capacities he dealt with, red alerts, distressed aircraft, etc., and ultimately with the occupation of Japan. Extracts from a detailed journal and letters to his wife (a Naval officer of superior rank), augmented by commentary from the vantage of 60 years later, and from cited sources, present an intensely personal story of the Pacific Campaign, which peaks when the author, one of an advanced party of “technicians,” hoisted the first American flag over mainland Japan two days before combat troops began the actual armed occupation on August 30, 1945. This historic flag is now on permanent display in the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans, LA.

"I am again moved by the story just as much as I was when I first read the manuscript. Those were remarkable days and Robert Miller was right there in the middle of it ..."

Dale Corson,  Technical Adviser to The Air Communications Officer, U.S. Army Air Corps, 1942-1945; President Emeritus, Cornell University.