USS Milius (DDG-69)

The USS Milius (DDG-69) is an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. Her namesake is Commander Paul L. Milius (1928-1968) of U.S. Navy squadron VO-67. His OP-2E aircraft, callsign Sophomore 50, was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Laos on 27 February, 1968 and he ordered his crew to bail out. Seven of the nine men aboard were rescued. The remains of the eighth crewmember, ATN2 John Hartzeim, who was wounded in the attack, were identified on 19 Feb 1999. Although he exited his aircraft, Commander Milius was never recovered. Commander Milius received the Navy Cross in 1968.

The motto of the ship is "Alii Prae Me" (Others before me).

In January 2005, she participated in Operation Unified Assistance. On 6 December 2006, the ship successfully launched a Block IV Tomahawk cruise missile for the first time in a test of the Block IV configuration. The launch took place in the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Sea Test Range off of California. The missile flew 869 miles before impacting its target on the land range at China Lake, California.

On 12 September 2007, the U.S. embassy in the Philippines stated that the arrival of the missile destroyers USS Chung-Hoon and USS Milius was a goodwill visit to strengthen ties between the U.S. and the Philippines.