Woodbury's Helen Miller, World War II Soldier, Dies

WOODBURY, MN — Woodbury resident Helen Miller, one of the first women to serve in the United States Army during World War II, has died at the age of 96. Miller was born on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul, where a Kawalski's location now sits.

Miller volunteered when the Army needed women to aid the D-Day invasion in England. She helped position fighter planes.

"To be perfectly honest with you, because all of the good guys were gone, we felt we really couldn’t get on with our lives until the war was over," she told the Pioneer Press in 2015.

"We thought maybe we could help."

Sign Up For Patch's Daily Newsletter and Breaking News Alerts in Your Neighborhood

When Miller was discharged after the war, she settled in Saint Paul and married Leo Christiansen, a Navy veteran. Both of her sons served in the military, according to the Star Tribune.

The veteran not only survived the war, but also scarlet fever and breast cancer.

"I’m a tough old bird!" she once wrote on her popular blog about aging.

Miller is survived by her two sons, sister, seven grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

Image via Shutterstock