[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 20576-20577]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO CHARLES ROONEY MILLER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 10, 2002

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a fellow 
South Carolinian and college classmate, Charles Rooney Miller, a good 
friend, a master teacher, and a survivor of the September 11, 2001 
terrorist attacks.
  Mr. Miller was born on August 11, 1939 in Clover, South Carolina in 
York County. He was the first of two children born to Andrew Charles 
Miller and Emily Lee (Allison) Miller. After his parents separated, he 
lived with his grandmother, aunts, uncles and other relatives--he was 
truly a community-raised child in a Christian environment. From a young 
age, he attended Clover Chapel Methodist Church Sunday Bible School and 
later joined Flat Rock Baptist Church where he was baptized. At the age 
of 11, he became the Sunday School Teacher for his age group.
  Mr. Miller was an excellent student throughout grammar school and 
high school. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in May of 1956 as 
Valedictorian of his class. From there he went to South Carolina State 
College (now University), where I had the pleasure of meeting him and 
beginning a life-long friendship. We were both active in the civil 
rights activities on campus and participated in a number of marches and 
other activities. Rooney graduated from SC State in 1962 and moved to 
Stamford, Connecticut where he was later joined by his wife and 
children.
  In Connecticut, Mr. Miller worked two jobs to support his family; at 
Chemtross, a film developing business, and at Stamford Chemicals, a dry 
cleaning production business, where his work is associated with the 
invention of a number of products that are still used in today's dry 
cleaning industry. Mr. Miller later became a teacher and worked for a 
short time in South Carolina, Stamford, and in the Norwalk, Connecticut 
Public School Systems.
  In 1968, Mr. Miller began a career with the New York City Department 
of Social Services and worked there until 1994 when he retired as a 
Supervisor with the Bureau of Social Services For Children. His 
retirement was not long and he returned to work in 1997 as a consultant 
with PSI International in Fairfax, Virginia and was assigned as a 
Conversion Specialist for his old office, the New York City Department 
of Social Services. He worked there until September 11, 2001.
  On the morning of September 11th, Mr. Miller arrived at work early 
and spoke to several colleagues on his floor. He thought about how much 
he enjoyed his post-retirement work as a consultant and his ability to 
set his own schedule. In the midst of his musings, he heard a loud 
noise but first thought the sound came from normal truck traffic 
outside. But this window-rattling occurrence was different. He was 
astonished when he went to the window and saw the World Trade Center 
tower on fire and a trail of fluid pouring down the side of the 
building with fire leaping behind it. He heard other loud explosions 
and co-workers on his floor began to scream, cry and pray. The radios 
began broadcasting reports of the fire but no one was sure what was 
happening. As Mr. Miller and his co-workers continued to watch the 
building burn he saw people jumping from the windows, some holding 
hands. They watched as the second plane crashed into the other tower. 
They knew then they were in the midst of a planned attack, and 
pandemonium broke out. Finally, they received instructions to leave 
their building and head down to the South Street Seaport where they 
thought it would be safer by the water. They were given surgical masks 
to cover their noses and mouths and instructed to put a moist towel 
under the mask to help prevent inhalation of smoke, chemicals and other 
foreign particles. They left the darkened building with smoke and 
objects flying through the air.
  As people were screaming and running out of the building, Miller was 
knocked to the ground and run over by several people before he could 
get back to his feet. He thought he would be okay once he caught his 
breath. He was eventually assisted by a worker from a nearby polling 
place and taken to a triage location. The medics realized that Miller 
was suffering from a heart attack and he was then rushed by ambulance 
to New York Hospital's downtown emergency room. He was hospitalized for 
five days and unable to contact his family. After subsequent 
angioplasty surgery and treatments for the back injury he received, he 
is now mending well.
  He's still active in his church, Cathedral Baptist, where he serves 
as Chairman of the Deacon's Board, Chairman of the Men's Department, 
Vice President of the Board of Directors, a teacher in the Bible 
Institute and the Adult Sunday School Class. He is also a member of 
South Carolina State University Alumni Chapter of New York.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in honoring 
Charles Rooney Miller, a man who's contributions to his community, his 
friends, and his family will leave lasting impressions on the numerous 
lives he has touched. As the Homecoming celebrations begin at our alma 
mater, South Carolina State University, I wish him continued success 
and Godspeed.

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