Topeka ? Wearing his dress uniform and a big smile, Army Pfc. Patrick Miller told legislators Wednesday he appreciated the prayers said for him during his captivity in Iraq but hoped others touched by the war would not be forgotten.

Miller, 23, of Park City, traveled with his wife, Jessa, to the Statehouse, where he met with Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and was honored in brief ceremonies by the House and Senate.

Miller and four other members of the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas, were captured March 23 in an ambush near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.

Those five, along with two helicopter pilots, were freed April 13 near Tikrit in northern Iraq. Miller, who returned to Kansas last week, said Wednesday he knew many Kansans had prayed for him.

“I’d just like to thank everybody for everything they’ve done,” he told the House. “Please don’t forget everybody still over there, everybody who’s going over there and those who won’t come back.”

Lawmakers and spectators in both chambers greeted Miller with warm welcomes and ovations.

Senate Majority Leader Lana Oleen, R-Manhattan, told him that the tight budget meant the state had no money to give away, but she offered him a Kansas State University money clip as a token of appreciation.

The K-State reference was appropriate.

Miller had declined dinner at the White House with other former POWs during the past weekend, accepting instead an invitation to appear at Kansas State’s spring football game. Thousands cheered as Miller, clad in desert camouflage fatigues, rode into the stadium in a Humvee.

Sebelius and legislators planned today to honor the family of Sgt. Jacob Butler, a Wellsville native who was killed April 1 in Iraq.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, right, sits down with Pfc. Patrick Miller and his wife, Jessa, in the her office at the Capitol. Sebelius and state lawmakers honored Miller, a former prisoner of war in Iraq, Wednesday.