Prior to his capture, Miller had stood his ground firing at the Iraqis with a malfunctioning weapon, feeding bullets into it by hand to protect two wounded comrades.

Miller was held for 22 days with four other members of his unit including: After he was captured, he was repeatedly questioned about radio frequencies that were written on pieces of paper inside his helmet.

Along with the Silver Star, Patrick Miller also received a Purple Heart and Prisoner of War Medal on July 2, 2003, during an Independence Day celebration at Fort Bliss, Texas.

On 20 July 2005, while serving with the 183rd Maintenance Company, Fort Carson, Miller was awarded the Combat Action Badge by retired Command Sergeant Major Tyler Walker.

The U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) at Fort Belvoir, Virginia named its operations center and dedicated a wall in Miller's honor in January 2004.

"The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Patrick Miller, Private First Class, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a Mechanic with the 507th Maintenance Company, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, during combat operations in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, near An Nasiriya, Iraq, on 23 March 2003.

Miller lost 25 pounds in three weeks as a prisoner of war, eating boiled chicken, rice and bread so hard he had to throw it against the wall to be able to chew it.