Byron Derringer by WreathsAcrossAmerica.org/radio published on 2023-08-25T16:55:06Z Byron Derringer, great grandson of Captain James Ely Miller. Captain Miller posthumously received the very first Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) ever being presented to a recipient from World War I, for which the award was originally intended. Additionally, by his sacrifice, became the first U.S. airman, eligible for the Purple Heart, to die in air-to-air combat against any enemy in France, while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States.