More detail on this person: The following
appeared in the Winter 2011 issue of The Boxcar
Newsletter. Joseph Wayne Milles, age 71, passed
away January 16, 2011. He was a lifelong Biloxi
native and the only son of Joseph and Mary Belle
Trahan Milles. A graduate of Notre Dame High
School, Wayne went on to attend Spring Hill
College and Ole MS. He also attended Spartan
School of Aeronautics where he received his
airframe and mechanics license. He then entered
the US Army, graduated from classes 65-3 and
65-3W, and piloted the Bubble, the Huey and the
Chinook helicopters. He held the rank of CW2. He
served in Vietnam with the 147th ASHC in '66-67,
the 213rd ASHC in '67, and finally in '67 the
178th ASHC - The Boxcars. He was awarded the
Bronze Star and had 24 OLCs on his Air Medal.
After Vietnam he was a helicopter instructor pilot
at Fort Rucker. He was a member of the VHPA and
the local organization of the "Quiet Birds" or
QBs. Upon his father's death he returned to Biloxi
to maintain the family business "Milles Sno
Cones." He owned and operated Milles Sno Cones
for 20 years and was recognized locally as "The
Snoball Man." His love for flying never ceased. He
maintained all of his licenses by flying charters.
He flew for Chevron Oil, Burger King, Emery,
Apollo Aviation, Isle of Capri, and many other
companies, while managing Milles Sno Cones.
At various times he went by Joe, Wayne, Hoe
Wayne, Joseph W., Wayne J., Mississippi Joe, and
in emails I always called him "Papa-san" even
though he was only three years older than me. At
Chu Lai he gave out business cards describing
himself as a "VHP" for Very Hot Pilot _ and he
was. He joked about not making the military his
career because, "The Army and I never quite agreed
on how I was supposed to behave_" Joe was an
excellent pilot and was unparalleled as a friend -
Joe was truly 'One of the Good Guys.'
From: Dean C. Nelson
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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