Milloy began his military career in 1938 when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 17 as a private, serving in the
Mississippi National Guard In 1940 he was assisting a relative in running a
Dr. Pepper bottling plant in
Louisiana when he was asked to assist in standing up a new regular army unit. Milloy would subsequently serve as an infantry platoon leader in
Camp Blanding,
Florida, prior to the U.S. entering
World War II in 1941. During World War II, he served in the
504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Seeing action in the Mediterranean and Western European Theater, Milloy would serve as the commander of Company C, 504th PIR, seeing combat in Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Germany. He would conduct three combat jumps with the
82nd Airborne Division, and be awarded the Silver Star for actions in
Altavilla Silentina, Italy. During the
Korean War, he served as a major in the
2nd Infantry Division. Commanding the 2nd Battalion of the
38th Regiment, he led his men through the
Chinese spring offensive, the
Punchbowl, and
Heartbreak Ridge, and be awarded two more Silver Stars. He commanded the 2nd Brigade,
1st Infantry Division, in
South Vietnam in early 1966, leading it in
Operation Mastiff and Operation Mallett. He served as commander of the
John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School from 1966 to 1968. On 10 August 1969, at a ceremony at
Dĩ An, Milloy assumed command of the 1st Infantry Division in South Vietnam, becoming the division's 41st commanding general. He led the division until its departure from South Vietnam on 4 April 1970. He rejected the idea of a divisional farewell march from
Lai Khê to
Long Binh Post; instead, the division carved a by numeral 1 into the jungle east of the
Michelin Rubber Plantation. On 21 March 1970 he was appointed commander of the
23rd Infantry Division, replacing Major General
Lloyd B. Ramsey, who had been injured in a helicopter crash. He served as commander until November 1970. During this time, he dealt with the aftermath of the
Mỹ Lai massacre, which had been conducted by units of the division. He advised congressional investigators that Mỹ Lai was insecure and infested with mines and booby traps. He was later described by his subordinate
Norman Schwarzkopf as "the kind of muddy-boots commander I admired." Milloy would finish his career as the U.S. Army Chief of Staff at the
Presidio of San Francisco, retiring in 1975. ==Later life==