Ventura Marine Veteran Brandon Berhow-Goll has been working tirelessly to assist a Marine Veteran buddy, Kemp Miller, to reestablish himself in the United States so Miller can bring his Filipino wife and children over for a better life in the states. The effort involves two communities, family, neighbors and church all working together.
As a teenager who grew up in the Philippines, the chance for a better future brought Kemp Miller, 42, to the United States in 1999. Born and raised in Angeles City in the northern Philippines, Miller’s father is a U.S. Navy veteran who was stationed in the Philippines and his mother is Filipino. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1993 at age 11. The process was a lengthy one, involving documentation and multiple trips to the U.S. Embassy. When he graduated from high school he had to choose between going to college in the Philippines or finding a job.
“I already had a U.S. passport. I decided to leave home, travel to the U.S., and see where it takes me,” Miller said. The 17-year-old arrived in the U.S. in September of 1999.
“I had some money saved up, but I couldn’t find a job.” Fortunately, he had a friend living in Oklahoma City that offered him a place to bunk for a while. This friend already shared his apartment with two others and one of them, who was in the Marine Corps, suggested that Miller join the military. “They’ll give you a free place to stay, free food and they’ll pay you,” Miller recalled her saying. “Next morning she took me to the recruiting station and that was it.”
He joined the U.S. Marine Corps in November 1999 and two years later met Brandon Berhow-Goll of Ventura, when Berhow-Goll was placed in Kemp’s unit: 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, Charlie Company.
Miller and Berhow-Goll were roommates and served together in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom (January – May 2003). After that deployment, Miller transferred to another unit, while Berhow-Goll remained with Charlie Company. The two kept in contact over the years.
Miller was in the Marine Corps for 13 years. He was discharged in 2012, returning home to the Philippines to help his mother who was sick. While there he met his wife, Christine Joy, and the couple now have four children, ages 8, 7, 4 and 6 months.
“In the Philippines…it’s okay. But I want to give my kids the same opportunity that I was given,” Miller stated. “In the United States, I feel they will have a better future if they grow up here. That’s how we as a family made the decision to come to the United States.”
Berhow-Goll said he always looked up to
his senior Marine room mate. “He was always, I don’t know, he was just a stud,” he said with a grin on his face. And since both men are on the shorter side, “… he taught me how to keep up on hikes and he taught me a lot about the military.”
The two military veterans kept in touch off and on over the years, but a January 2024 phone call from Miller in the Philippines would forever seal the bonds of their friendship. “He just said, ‘Could you help me get a plane ticket over,’ and I said, ‘If you get a job,’” Berhow-Goll said. Then he asked his father, a recent Stellar Industries retiree, for help in setting up an interview appointment for Miller with the personnel department.
After that everything just fell into place. Miller arrived in Iowa, stayed with Berhow-Goll and his family, landed the job at Stellar, and then a house in Garner, owned by family friend, Laurie Umbarger, became available for rent.
The two-story, five bedroom, one-and-a-half bath home fit the bill perfectly for Miller’s family-of-six, but it needed some love and attention. “Laurie said she would give him three months rent free for working on the house,” said Berhow-Goll, who immediately gathered up his wife, Maggie, his cousin and Iowa National Guard veteran, Rocky Berhow-Greiman, his mother, Jennifer Hanson and step-dad, Kevin Hanson, and a team of friends from church and his neighborhood to start work on the house.
Umbarger said she had heard about Kemp’s situation from Greiman. “He called me to inquire about the house that I own and explained the situation to me,” she said. “Kemp’s story intrigued me from the beginning. Hearing about how he had just gotten to the U.S., needed to find a house and how he is working to get his family here was something I definitely wanted to help with however I could. Once I met Kemp I wanted to become even more involved. Our nation owes our veterans so much more than we could ever repay and if I can contribute to that in some small way then I’m delighted to be able to. Also, seeing the support that Brandon and Rocky and their families have given Kemp proves that there are still so many good people in this world. It’s shown me the bond that our veterans have and it’s something special.”
So far Miller and the volunteer crew have ripped up all the carpet and padding on the main floor, and laid new sub floors and vinyl laminate flooring. Maggie Berhow-Goll said they haven’t touched the upstairs yet because the main level was pretty large. “We painted everything on the main level and did all the trim work too,” Maggie said. She added that they still need to gut the main level bathroom and that Miller has been using a temporary shower in the basement. “He doesn’t mind it though. He is so low maintenance. He’s just like, ‘I lived on dirt floors.’ He never had a shower in the Philippines.”
“I think [this is] what we’re supposed to do as a community, and it’s not just us. We couldn’t have done it without Rocky. We couldn’t have done it without my parents, neighbors, everyone going over there and chipping in and Laurie allowing him three months of free rent,” Berhow-Goll said.
Miller lived with Berhow-Goll’s family in Ventura until the beginning of March, slowly transitioning to the Garner house as the work progressed and his first paycheck from Stellar arrived. “He’s met his neighbors in that area, on Bush Ave. and he’s got his Marine Corps flag and American flag up,” said Berhow-Goll who wanted to shift the focus away from what they are doing back to why Miller is doing this. “He’s doing all the hard work. He’s doing everything [he can] just trying to get his family over here.”
In between work at Stellar and work on the house, Miller has been attending Harvest Bible Chapel in Clear Lake with Berhow-Goll’s family and that was where he was introduced to Brandon Borseth, Clear Creek Elementary School principal and an Elder at the church.
“So Brandon had a couple of conversations with me …and we’ve prayed together, we’ve talked about some life things together. And Brandon told me that Kemp was moving to town but needed to get here first and needed to build up some income so he can get his family over here,” Borseth said. “Well, he came with nothing. It just so happened that I was replacing one of our vehicles, it’s a 2012 Chevy Impala. It’s not a spectacular vehicle, but we were in a position where we could give him a car. And so we did. It was a way to help him. I don’t know his whole story. What I do know is right now he’s on a good path and I never imagined that I would ever be in a position where I could bless someone like that.”
“So God brought us together. He created that timing. And now [Kemp] has got a way to get to and from work without bumming rides from people. That’s good. It was a wonderful opportunity to be some salt and light (a reference to Matthew 5:13-16 in the Bible).” Borseth said. “The opportunity to pour into each other is important. When you seek to live life and community, you’re going to be presented with opportunities to be that salt and light in the world. And this gives him a much better opportunity to be independent and gets him all that closer to bringing his family together, and for him to move his life forward.”
Miller said he misses his family, but keeps in touch with them daily via the Internet. Immigration (legally) from another country is a lengthy process and can be daunting. “Even though I’m an American citizen, because my kids were born abroad, they’re not automatically American citizens,” he said. “Technically, they’re Filipino.”
Miller said he is grateful for the friends he has made and the assistance he’s received. He hopes to become more involved in community life. “I even joked to Brandon that I need to come up with a better term for thanking people. His family, the church, everybody he knows is helping out.” He added, “I’m ready to put in the work. Whatever it takes.”
