Though it is little remembered today, a period of détente allowed for a brief thawing in the decades-long Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. In the early 1970s the administration of President Richard Nixon created a temporary relaxation of tensions between the superpowers. The United States had an ideal agent to carry out its policy in the naval realm.
The commander of the 6th Fleet at the time was Vice Admiral Jerry Miller, a top-notch officer who was laid to rest at Arlington in mid-June. As I came to know the admiral years ago, I observed the sparkling personality that had drawn so many to admire him. He did things with panache and inspired a great deal of loyalty among those who knew and served with him. He also earned respect from those who served against him.
One of the latter was a Soviet navy lieutenant named Vladimir Mandel, whose fascinating memoir of his naval service (April 2011, “Cold War Duty in the Black Sea Fleet,” pp. 42–48) recounted an incident in 1972 when his ship, the Kashin-class destroyer Komsomolets Ukrainy, was part of the Soviet Mediterranean fleet. Admiral Miller encouraged the commanding officers of ships in the 6th Fleet to treat Soviet warship crews with respect and even friendliness.
Miller set the example by having his flagship, the guided-missile cruiser Springfield (CLG-7), steam in tandem with the Komsomolets Ukrainy. On signal from the destroyer’s bugler, the skipper and other officers of the Soviet ship rendered honors with hand salutes. As Mandel recounted, Miller’s flagship sent a semaphored response: “Thank you for the greeting. It is always nice to see a sailor who is serving well.” That image stuck in Lieutenant Mandel’s memory.
Sometimes the greetings to the Soviets from various 6th Fleet ships went unanswered. In keeping with Miller’s tone of friendliness—though with tongue in cheek—one U.S. skipper took his ship alongside a new Krivak-class destroyer. His visual message: “It’s a beautiful ship. Is it for sale?” No response.
In his Naval Institute oral history, Miller described one incident that did elicit an exchange. After longtime FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, a vociferous anticommunist, died in May 1972, 6th Fleet ships flew flags at half-mast in his honor. An inquisitive Soviet skipper sent a message to a U.S. destroyer to ask the reason and got an explanation. The Soviet then sent back his condolence: “Relative to Mr. Hoover, you have our sympathies, although he never had any for us.” Miller commented that it was “the closest thing to humor I ever saw from the Soviets at sea.”
Fast-forward many years to the Internet era: Lieutenant Mandel’s son Alex, who lives in Ukraine, is an amateur historian and a member of the Amelia Earhart Society. The group studies the career of the pioneering aviatrix who was lost at sea in the Pacific in 1937 and whose fate remains an abiding mystery. In the early 2000s Alex became acquainted by email with retired Rear Admiral Ernest Eugene “Gene” Tissot Jr., a naval aviator decorated for his actions in Korea and Vietnam. His father, Ernie Tissot, was Earhart’s mechanic in the 1930s.
When Alex’s dad learned of his communications, he asked his son to find out whether Tissot knew Vice Admiral Miller. He did and soon put Alex in touch. A friendship was forged out of the memories of that brief Mediterranean encounter in 1972. Soon Alex and Miller were communicating regularly.
In July 2004 Alex and a fellow member of the Earhart group, Michele Cervone, toured the United States. Miller joined them in a visit to his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy, and gave them a guided tour. Vladimir Mandel had handed his Soviet navy officer’s black cap to Alex and asked him to present it to the admiral as a gesture of kindness and respect. When the group was in front of the Naval Institute’s Beach Hall, Miller donned the Soviet cap and posed with Alex. There is a mutual respect among those who have served at sea, despite the political differences between their nations.
Subsequently Alex and Miller stayed in regular contact by mail and telephone, and they got together whenever Alex’s travels brought him to the East Coast. The admiral patiently answered his many questions about ships and navies. Alex and his U.S. friends petitioned the secretary of the Navy to name a ship for Amelia Earhart. Admiral Miller actively supported the campaign, and, as Alex wrote, “I am convinced that his participation . . . was very important for this success.” The replenishment ship Amelia Earhart (T-AKE-6) entered active service in 2008.
In 2011 Alex took his mother, Galyna, to visit Miller and his wife, JoAnn. (Both of Alex’s parents are still alive.) Alex and the admiral met again in 2013, when Miller told of his hope to write a book to be titled Sea Stories. His declining health prevented that project from coming to fruition before his death on 6 November 2014, but his oral history serves as an admirable substitute.
On 4 July, Alex and his friend Michele joined Miller’s widow in visiting the admiral’s grave. They were there to honor to a man who had honored the men of the Soviet Navy so many years earlier.