Yesterday, on the day of this year's remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr., the United States Navy announced that one of the aircraft carriers soon to be built will be named in honor of Doris Miller, a Navy cook who rescued several injured sailors on the USS West Virginia during the 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. After helping some crew members escape Miller also rescued the ship's captain. During the these rescues, bombs were falling, and Japanese planes were constantly strafing ships and firing torpedoes. Sailor Miller was now a bona fide hero, but he was not finished. He ran back on board his ship and manned an anti-aircraft gun, which he fired continuously and alone for several minutes, until he ran out of ammunition. He and the other remaining crew were ordered to abandon ship. A few minutes later the USS West Virginia went down.
I learned about Doris Miller in the late 1970's when I went to work for the Waco Police Department. The YMCA gymnasium where police recruits received physical training was named in honor of Doris Miller. I had never heard of Doris Miller until then, and the first thing I learned about Doris Miller was that he was not a lady. In fact, Doris Miller was a local boy from Waco, a local football hero of great size and ability. And, I learned, Doris Miller answered the call for patriots to defend the nation, and the world, during the early days of World War II. The third thing I learned about Doris Miller was that he was a Black man. He had been treated the way most Black people were treated in those days - as segregated, second-class citizens. But, like thousands of other Black men, he answered that patriotic call to duty anyway, to fight for the freedom that he himself did no fully enjoy.
In the Navy, most Black men were given the least preferred assignments, and Miller was no exception. He was assigned as a mess attendant on the USS West Virginia, but he also received training as an ammunition handler for a fifty-caliber machine nest, as his "battle station" assignment. The USS West Virginia cruised off toward an exotic location he had most likely never heard of - Pearl Harbor, in the Hawaiian Islands. This was supposed to be a peaceful assignment in a tropical paradise. Unknown to most Americans, however, events in Japan were already set in motion, and the peaceful tropical paradise was just an illusion, to be shattered on the morning of 7 December, 1941.
Doris Miller, or "Dorie" as he was known to his companions by this time, survived that fateful day at Pearl Harbor. After the Pear Harbor attack, Miller was assigned to the USS Indianapolis. In 1943, Dorie was transferred to the USS Lipscombe Bay, a small type of aircraft carrier known as an escort carrier. Miller would spend the rest of his days on the Lipscombe Bay. But Doris Miller's days were numbered. His ship was attacked on 24 November, 1943. A Japanese submarine fired a single torpedo, striking the stern of the Lipcombe Bay, subsequently igniting the bombs on the carrier. Doris Miller and 644 other sailors lost their lives that day. His body, along with many others, was not recovered.
I commend the Navy for honoring Doris Miller in this way. Actually another ship, a frigate, was named for Miller and was commissioned in 1973, but I believe it is fitting to name a new aircraft carrier after this larger than life, but largely unsung hero of the War in the Pacific.
Thank you, Dorie, for your service to this country, and for the lives that you saved. Congratulations to your family and to your memory for the honor that was bestowed on you yesterday. You are truly an American hero.
I learned about Doris Miller in the late 1970's when I went to work for the Waco Police Department. The YMCA gymnasium where police recruits received physical training was named in honor of Doris Miller. I had never heard of Doris Miller until then, and the first thing I learned about Doris Miller was that he was not a lady. In fact, Doris Miller was a local boy from Waco, a local football hero of great size and ability. And, I learned, Doris Miller answered the call for patriots to defend the nation, and the world, during the early days of World War II. The third thing I learned about Doris Miller was that he was a Black man. He had been treated the way most Black people were treated in those days - as segregated, second-class citizens. But, like thousands of other Black men, he answered that patriotic call to duty anyway, to fight for the freedom that he himself did no fully enjoy.
In the Navy, most Black men were given the least preferred assignments, and Miller was no exception. He was assigned as a mess attendant on the USS West Virginia, but he also received training as an ammunition handler for a fifty-caliber machine nest, as his "battle station" assignment. The USS West Virginia cruised off toward an exotic location he had most likely never heard of - Pearl Harbor, in the Hawaiian Islands. This was supposed to be a peaceful assignment in a tropical paradise. Unknown to most Americans, however, events in Japan were already set in motion, and the peaceful tropical paradise was just an illusion, to be shattered on the morning of 7 December, 1941.
Doris Miller, or "Dorie" as he was known to his companions by this time, survived that fateful day at Pearl Harbor. After the Pear Harbor attack, Miller was assigned to the USS Indianapolis. In 1943, Dorie was transferred to the USS Lipscombe Bay, a small type of aircraft carrier known as an escort carrier. Miller would spend the rest of his days on the Lipscombe Bay. But Doris Miller's days were numbered. His ship was attacked on 24 November, 1943. A Japanese submarine fired a single torpedo, striking the stern of the Lipcombe Bay, subsequently igniting the bombs on the carrier. Doris Miller and 644 other sailors lost their lives that day. His body, along with many others, was not recovered.
I commend the Navy for honoring Doris Miller in this way. Actually another ship, a frigate, was named for Miller and was commissioned in 1973, but I believe it is fitting to name a new aircraft carrier after this larger than life, but largely unsung hero of the War in the Pacific.
Thank you, Dorie, for your service to this country, and for the lives that you saved. Congratulations to your family and to your memory for the honor that was bestowed on you yesterday. You are truly an American hero.
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