If it weren't for his fellow officers, corrections officer Jeffrey Miller said he wouldn't be alive today.  He was working his routine shift at Attica Correctional Facility last summer when an inmate began attacking officers with a shank and Miller sprang into action to subdue the offender.  He and his co-worker were stabbed several times during the chaos of the situation, but they both kept their composure and battled with the inmate until they could restrain him.

For his performance at Attica that day, the New York State Department of Correctional Services presented Miller with a Medal of Honor in June.  Recently, The Corrections Connection Network News caught up with Miller to talk with him about what the award means to him and how that near-death experience has colored his outlook on the corrections field.

Q: How did you become interested in working in the corrections field?

Miller: I have known these guys at Attica [for a while].  I played hockey with them because my father was an officer here.  He got me on the team and I have known these guys for a while.  I decided in 1993 that I would take the test and pursue a career in corrections.  I took criminal justice in college and planned on being a police officer, but that never panned out, so corrections was the next best thing.

[After I graduated from college], I did some other jobs here and there, but waited for a police or corrections job to come up.  It did.

I have been here since 1997.  I got into the department in 1995.   Before Attica, I was at Arthur Kill and Staten Island.  Then I went to Shawangunk and then I went to the mid-state region, which is Oneida Correctional Facility  then Albion.  I did that all in about 19 months.  They send you downstate when you start. 

Q: What does your job involve at Attica?

Miller: I am a CO.  I work the 3-11 shift.  [For the first few hours], I run two companies of 41 inmates on each company and then I turn it over to another officer that runs it for the rest of the evening.  At about 6:30, I go out to the yard and we monitor the yard with three other officers. 

Q: What is the greatest challenge you face on the job?

Miller: Dealing with different personalities. 

Q: Can you talk about the incident that earned you the Medal of Honor award?

Miller: We were running chow.  I believe it was the 29th of July, 2004.  They were coming off of one company and when other floors go out, we all kind-of cover each other as the inmates come out of the company.  It was myself, Joe Cianci and Neil Buth running one company out.  About 20 inmates were coming off and about 10 inmates were coming out.  This guy was in the middle of the group coming out and he jumped on Officer Buth and started stabbing him with seven-inch a shank - a metal rod sharpened to a point. 

At first we didn't know what he was doing.  We almost thought he was punching him.  Officer Buth fell backwards over a desk and the inmate fell on top of him.  Joe Cianci was the first to respond because he was the closet.  He jumped right in and started striking the inmate with his baton.  It didn't seem to even affect him; the inmate was on a mission.  There was an inmate in between myself and Joe Cianci that kind of got in my way, so I ran into him and knocked him out of the way, which, in turn, kind-of knocked Joe out of the way.  It wasn't meant to be done, but that is how it happened.  The inmate was still on top of Officer Buth.  I grabbed the inmate and threw him into the wall that was right behind Officer Buth.  I just held him against the wall and started actually trying to knock him out against the wall because I couldn't do anything else.  It was kind-of tight quarters there.

I thought he was kind-of punching me over the shoulder because we were face-to-face, but, apparently, he was stabbing me.  He stabbed me four times.  Officer Buth had been stabbed five times.  Officer Buth's injuries were very close to his lungs and I believe a fraction of an inch from his abdomen.  He stabbed him very deep. 

As I was holding him there, Officer Buth came in to assist me with Officer Cianci and we all fell backwards.  The inmate basically landed on top of me with the weapon still in his hand we all kind of rolled him over got on top of him.  Other officers assisted, as well.  From what I hear, the other officers that responded took care of the other inmates that were there.  At the time, they were being watched by one officer, I believe.

The inmate kept fighting.  We kept trying to subdue him and there were many baton strikes.  He was punching.  He was kicking and we finally got him over, handcuffed him and got the weapon from him.  I am not sure who recovered the weapon, but one of the officers did.  Thanks to all the officers in the block, we are still here.

Q: Has that experience changed your thoughts about your career?

Miller: No.  You don't expect something bad to happen to you when you come to work, but you try to watch for it and you have to learn from it.  It's one of those things where when you are sitting around all day, you never think anything could happen to you.  You know now that [it] could and you have to keep your eyes open at all times in this job.

Seeing one of my friends get hurt -- that was probably the most traumatic thing.  Wrestling around with an inmate -- that has happened many times.   There are so many things that happen in this jail that officers get hurt [and] it hasn't been in the news.  They [also] deserve this award they gave me.

We appreciate everyone that responded.  We wouldn't be here without the guys that jumped in.

Q: What does receiving the Medal of Honor mean to you?

Miller: It means a lot.  I definitely appreciate it, but if I didn't get it, it still wouldn't change how I did my job.  There plenty other officers in here that deserve it as much as I do, if not more.

Q: What are some of your hopes for the future?

Miller: I [will] stay in [corrections] for at least the next 25 years and, hopefully, move up a little.  I would like to make lieutenant before I retire.