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By Bill O'Boyle boboyle@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
Bill O'Boyle on Facebook   |   @TLBillOboyle on Twitter

YATESVILLE – Close to 2,000 law enforcement officers saluted slain State Police Trooper Joshua D. Miller in a massive funeral Friday that included tributes from dignitaries, longtime friends and fellow officers.

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Angela Miller, the widow of Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Joshua Miller, moves up to kiss his casket following a ceremony at the Lacey Street Cemetery in Laceyville, Wyoming County Friday afternoon. Her husband posthumously was awarded the Medal of Honor – the highest honor that can be given to a Pennsylvania state trooper.

Don Carey/The Times Leader

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Tunkhannock area firefighters salute as the funeral procession of Trooper Joshua Miller passes in front of the state police barracks on U.S. Route 6 on Friday afternoon.

BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

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Hundreds more people lined the route of the procession from Pittston to Laceyville. Thousands watched on TV, listened to radio coverage and read Web site updates of the ceremony for the Pittston Township resident killed in the line of duty.

Trooper Miller was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor – the highest honor that can be given to a Pennsylvania state trooper.

As Lt. Col Tedescung L. Bandy, deputy commissioner of state police operations, read Miller’s obituary detailing his sterling career, bagpipes played “Amazing Grace” at Pittston Area High School, where Miller graduated.

An emotional Gov. Ed Rendell told the solemn audience: “Incidents like this make us step back and realize how difficult the job of a law enforcement officer is; it’s more difficult than any other job out there. Trooper Miller set an example for others to follow.”

In a personal message to Miller’s wife and children, the governor said, “I lost my father when I was 14 and he didn’t die a heroic death like your Dad did. Every day since his death I think of him and wonder what advice he’d give me as I struggle with difficult decisions. You haven’t lost your Dad; his memory will be with you for the rest of your life.”

Today would have been Miller’s 35th birthday.

The ranks of law enforcement and emergency personnel from across the U.S. lined up from end zone to end zone in Charlie Trippi Stadium to pay final respects to their fallen comrade.

Trooper Tom Kelly of Troop P, Wyoming, said 48 of the 50 U.S. states were represented, including Alaska.

More than 600 cars and 52 motorcycles were registered for the funeral procession that would take Miller’s flag-draped casket to the burial site in Wyoming County.

The day began with dark, ominous skies, but as the ceremony began the sky turned blue, complementing the sea of police officers clad in dress uniforms.

The scene was impressive – white gloves, flags, patches and badges, stripes, polished shoes, uniforms of gray, blue, tan, black and white.

The funeral procession was led by a drum and bagpipe corps, dressed in kilts, from the New Jersey State Police, followed by a hearse bearing the emblem of the U.S. Marine Corps – Miller had served been a Marine – and a riderless horse.

The stadium scoreboard flashed a message from the state police code of honor: “Courage is not the absence of fear; but the mastery of it.”

As the hearse entered the stadium followed by family and friends, the pounding of the bass drum and the rat-a-tat-tat of the snare drum marked the solemn occasion.

Bagpipers performed “The Marines Hymn” as everyone gathered. The casket was placed on a bier in front of the family, who gathered under a tent at the middle of the field.

Four officers fell victim to the heat – two had to be carried off the field on stretchers.

Wyoming County Chief Detective David Ide, who hired Miller at the Tunkhannock Police Department several years ago, also addressed the crowd.

Ide recalled Miller as a brave individual with many friends. With emotion in his voice, Ide said of his friend, “No one had a greater love for his wife, children and family. He had pictures of them in his locker. They were the first thing he saw when he arrived (at work), and the last when he left.”

The Millers were at a wedding Saturday, he said, and “Josh and Angie were at opposite sides of the room when Josh heard their wedding song being played. He dropped his conversation and met Angie’s eyes across the room. They rushed to each other and danced to their song.”

The next night Miller, 34, of Pittston Township, was fatally shot near Tobyhanna in a gunfight after a 40-mile chase with a man who kidnapped his own 9-year-old son.

The suspect was killed, the boy rescued and Trooper Robert Lombardo, 35, of Pittston, also was shot in the torso and is recovering. He attended Friday’s services.

Col. Frank E. Pawlowski, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, said Miller was a highly committed member of the Pennsylvania state police, calling him a “trooper’s trooper obsessed with physical fitness and taking drunken drivers off the road.”

“On Sunday, June 7, 2009, there would be no compromise of duty,” Pawlowski said. “Evil was met with bold courage and an unrelenting will to do what must be done.”

Pawlowski said Miller had another “mischievous” side. He told tall tales about his prowess as a hunter – bragging how he once tracked down a bear in the woods.

But it was his family that brought Miller the most joy and Pawlowski spoke of the trooper’s endless love for his wife, herself a state police communications officer.

“He grinned ear-to-ear whenever he spoke about his wife and three daughters,” Pawlowski said.

“He was so in love with Angie that he once left her a piece of tape with an imprint of his lips — a kiss.”

Miller is the first Pennsylvania state trooper to die in the line of duty since 2005. He’s the 92nd state trooper to die since the Pa State Troopers were founded in 1905.

The Rev. Lori Robinson of Eatonville United Methodist Church in Tunkhannock spoke of Miller as a man of great faith.

“The expectations the years once held have vanished,” she said.

“The mystery of pain and death bring us closer to one another.”

In addition to the governor, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, state Sens. Ray Musto and Lisa Baker and state Reps.

Todd Eachus, Mike Carroll, Eddie Day Pashinski and Karen Boback and Luzerne County Commissioner chairman Maryanne Petrilla were among those in attendance.

The procession exited Pittston Area High School around 12:30 p.m. to begin its winding route through Luzerne County to Lacey Street Cemetery in Laceyville, Wyoming County.

A program was handed out to those attending the funeral. Trooper Miller’s photo appeared on the cover along with the words “End of Watch.”

Memorial Fund

ON THE WEB

For more photos of the final farewell to Trooper Miller, turn to Pages 6A and 7A. To see more pictures and video go to www.

timesleader.

com

A memorial fund has been established to benefit the family of Trooper Joshua D. Miller who lost his life in the line of duty on June 7, 2009. Anyone wishing to contribute may do so as follows:

Make donations payable to: "Josh Miller Memorial Fund"

Mail donations to: P & G Federal Credit Union

51 Warren Street Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania 18657

Attn: Paula Shoemaker