This is probably only interesting to divers..since this is on the bubble blowing thread.
There is a Mexican connection; We all like Mexican food!
I guess it is also important to acknowledge that Pancho Villa expelled the gringo great & great grand parents from Mexico in 1914; the father has
been a Bajaphile since 1951, all the children have visted Baja & Mexico many times, from the time they were toddlers to teenagers. The eldest
daughter Roni owned trailer #31 at Kings over 20 years ago.
The parents support 3 schools in San Lucas and two libraries, Santa Rosalia and Bay of Angeles in Baja. They vist Baja and bring supplies two to
three times a year.
Every parent should be proud of their children --I certainly am of my four off-springs. I will not bore you with accomplishments the three girls,
Roni, Dr. Randi & Keni, who are all veteran divers in their own right, but rather will spend some time on Dr.Sam IV, who is also a veteran
diver...
Sam was born into a pioneer Orange county, California dive family. He began his diving career as a toddler at about 2 years old in the bath tub
sucking on a modified regulator, by 4 the "Do-boy" pool at 5 into the family pool and then the Pacific, in the beginning not to deep or too far from
the beach, but he was underwater and he was a diver in his mind. He rapidly progressed in his diving skills and grew in stature.. Prior to
reaching his 10 birthday he had logged 100+ open water dives, on his 12 birth day he dove to 130 ( oops! depth gauge was in error was to have been
100 feet)
At the ripe old age of 11 he also made his first dive in a Mark V helmet, the KM and Swindel hats at the Commercial Diving center in Wilmington-- he
was large for his age and the ole dad fibbed a bit!
During the summer of his 12th birthday he was accepted and successfully completed the US Divers Equipment repair course under Bryan Miller, now an
east coast US Divers sales representative. Because of his youth and excitement for diving he became a favorite of John Cronin, US Divers president
and founder of PADI who presented him with a new set of equipment and several US Divers shirts. A few weeks later JY Cousteau sent him a personally
autographed book
In high school he was an outstanding student, campus leader and athlete. He was active in his church and scouting became an Eagle scout.
One of his biology classes required a human performance experiment. Sam IV chose fin performance. He contacted all of the manufactures who provided
him with cases of fins. He went about developing a performance testing machine and establishing test criteria. He enlisted his youthful diving
buddies and dad as test subjects. The fin that had the greatest overall performance was one that had been designed by a former student Herb Van der
pol the "Planar" which was a surprise to all. His 15 page evaluation report was given the grade of A+.
Concurrently he was active in SoCal diving circles; by his piers was considered a top hunter and spear fisherman ( free diving.) When he turned 18 he
applied and after 18 months was accepted as a full member of the famous Long Beach Neptunes Spear fishing club, the second oldest and most restrictive
membership diving club in US
At Long Beach State he studied biology. While at LBS he was a deck hand on the dive boat "Golden Doubloon." In his spare time (?) made and sold custom
wood spear guns. His ingenuity and skill was acknowledged in Skin Diver Magazine by his friend the late E.R. Cross.
He began his diving career with 2 hose regulators. Over the years has amassed a rather presentable collection of these antiques. Therefore, it was
logical that he become a charter member and active in the Historical Diving Society when it was established over 10 years ago.
He also became a NAUI (Life) and taught SCUBA at one of the largest SoCal dive shops. His NAUI instructor/trainer was one of the best but even the
best courses never fully developed a seasoned instructor . To insure he would develop into a top instructor his initial classes were monitored and
later critiqued by some of the outstanding instructors of SoCal. He rapidly advanced as a top instructor
When the organization switched to PADI he became a PADI instructor
While employed as an Instructor he convinced the authorities of the corporation to donate 24 scuba units to established one of, if not the first,
Scuba Boy Scout troops. He became and acted as a hands on scout master until he entered med school
As a NAUI instructor he was eligible for the NAUI scholarship for the 2 week long Catalina chamber course-- he applied and won the scholarship. He
completed the internship and became chamber qualified. Several years later during the annual Catalina clean up there was an embolism. He was the
inside tech and made a 14 hour chamber ride - the Catalina record.
While waiting to enter Med school he began Tec- Mixed Gas diving with his good friend Jeff Bozanic making 300 and 400 foot jumps on a regular basis.
He enter Med school eight years ago. He was elected student body President.
While in med school he had a six week rotation in a small Mexican village on the mainland. He would treat patients in the morning an study Spanish
during the after noon. He now speaks presentable Spanish -- especially if related to medical.
He interned in Dayton Ohio and was appointed Chief intern--after one winter of snow and ice he discovered he was "a man of the west" so returned to
Arizona for 4 years of ER residency. His residency will be completed in June.
He was advised there was a vacancy for a one year fellowship for Diving med at San Diego State (AKA: Scripps Institute of Oceanography.) He applied.
Several days ago he was personally informed by the director that he had been granted the fellowship. The director indicated he had never had any
applicant as qualified as Sam IV--He had the most experience, knowledge and best over all qualifications of any applicant that had ever applied..
SAM IV is not exactly a typical SoCal diver...
So when in Baja you get twisted diving or cough up red stuff and end up in San Diego-- the big 6 foot 3 inch fellow in the white coat is certainly
qualified to treat you...
An there is lot more ...but I have borrrred you enough..
DMCypress - 3-24-2007 at 03:29 PM
Not boring.Interesting.BajaBruno - 3-25-2007 at 01:45 AM
Thanks Mr. Miller, you are justifiably proud of your son, and I enjoyed reading his story.Ken Bondy - 3-25-2007 at 07:55 AM
Boring? You've got to be kidding. Dr. Sam IV sounds like a great kid. I shouldn't call him a kid, obviously he's an adult now. But our hijos are
always "kids', aren't they? No matter what age. What a magnificent career. That 14-hour chamber ride must have been something. I hope I get to
meet him some day, but hopefully not on the way to the chamber. Thanks dean, ++Ken++FARASHA - 3-25-2007 at 08:15 AM
Once more - CONGRATULATION DEAN and SAM IV.
Makes me feel safe and relaxed now, when diving in that greater area, to know - that I'll have an excellent physician at hand, in case ....Murphy's
law comes in......>f<dean miller - 3-26-2007 at 06:43 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Bondy
Boring? You've got to be kidding. Dr. Sam IV sounds like a great kid... I hope I get to meet him some day, but hopefully not on the way to the
chamber. Thanks dean, ++Ken++
><>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~><>
You met him... You Met Dr. Samuel Dean Miller,IV
At my Wine and Cheese party in my cabin after the SCUBA SHOW on the Queen Mary about 15 years ago.
Your daugher Collen had graduated from college (Cal Poly?) just began her journalism career--She had written a article for the upstart "Dive Training"
in which she was attempting to discover the origin of the red & white Dive Flag.
I was writting a monthy column called "The way it was" for the competitor "Discover Diving." We, Colleen and I, were introduced by some one (??) to
specificly discuss the dive flag. I was very familar (and I guess still I am) with the history and legal use of the dive flag. I had been a
"professional witness" for the first test of a dive flag in a court of law in 1963 (Toso vs Burns.) I recall discussing that litigation and several
others I had appeared in that involved the dive flag--(FYI Ted Nixon of Michigan created the red & white dive flag in 1956-7.. but it had never
been tested until Toso vs Burns)
I invited her to the party and she brought dear old Dad to the party..The party had 150 people cramed into a cabin designed for two people....I think
we spoke for a while ..and you met a young Sam IV.
Time flys when you are having fun....
SDMbajabird - 5-25-2007 at 01:59 PM
Time is flying......
send me your email..... TOMB@TRIDENTDIVING.COM
I really dont get your post, but....... write me.... dive industry guy for more than 25years
Small world
Sharksbaja - 5-25-2007 at 03:17 PM
We may have met. What year did he do his Catalina gig. I was an on-call hyperbaric chamber tech while working and living there. Worked the tank both
inside and out 1985-1988. Treated many victims. Mostly commercial divers and weekend warriors and usually for decompression sickness. I can't remember
a treatment that long??
Was he acting as a physician? Longest I was ever in there was 8hrs. You feel pretty wierd after one of those. If I don't know him already I'd
like to meet him.
Perhaps he knows Andrew(Andy) Pilmanis. He helped establish the facility and trained and managed there for many years.
Wow did he follow thru with his career!!
[Edited on 5-25-2007 by Sharksbaja]FARASHA - 5-25-2007 at 03:25 PM
YES - Dean is quite proud of him - will be of interest for him - if you really have met?!
Interesting.
