Honoring our veterans and our military is something we hold very dear here at 1059 SUNNY FM. In fact, each week day at noon, we play a patriotic song and remind our listeners how we all have to honor all our military along with our first responders; those who are willing to place their lives out there for the rest of us. So when I learned that a naval aircraft had been named after not just another great American hero, but the first to be named after an African American hero, I knew I had to share his story.
On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at a ceremony highlighting the contributions of African Americans to the Greatest Generation the announcement was made naming an aircraft carrier after World War II hero Mess Attendant 2nd Class Doris "Dorie" Miller, making him the first African-American to have an aircraft carrier named in his or her honor.
Miller is noted for his heroics during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, when he took control of a machine gun on the U.S.S. West Virginia and fired back at Japanese planes.This was during a time when African Americans were designated to limited duties on board a naval vessel. NPR reports "At the time, black sailors were consigned to roles in the messman branch — work that entailed swabbing decks, cooking and shining officers' shoes."
Miller later received the Navy Cross for valor, one of the Navy's highest honor, making him the first African-American to receive the honor. Miller was brought home in November 1942 for a two-month tour to promote war bonds. His image was used on a Navy recruiting poster. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart, among other honors.
Miller sadly did not survive the war nor was his body ever recovered after the ship he was aboard, the USS Liscome Bay, was struck by a Japanese torpedo in the Pacific in 1943. Nearly 650 of the more than 900 sailors on board died when the ship sank.
The U.S.S Miller, a destroyer escort, was previously named after him. That vessel was decommissioned in 1991.
Miller's story is amazing:
"On Dec. 7, 1941, Miller was collecting laundry on the battleship West Virginia (BB-48), when the attack from Japanese forces commenced. When the alarm for general quarters sounded he headed for his battle station, an anti-aircraft battery magazine, only to discover that torpedo damage had wrecked it. Miller was ordered to the ship’s bridge to aid the mortally wounded commanding officer, and subsequently manned a .50 caliber Browning anti-aircraft machine gun until he ran out of ammunition. Miller then helped move many other injured Sailors as the ship was ordered abandoned due to her own fires and flaming oil floating down from the destroyed Arizona (BB-33). West Virginia lost 150 of its 1,500 person crew." Read more click here.
Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly said in a press statement, “Doris Miller stood for everything that is good about our nation, and his story deserves to be remembered and repeated wherever our people continue the watch today.”
Amen to that sir.
I think what I love the most about Dorie Miller's story is that he broke barriers simply by taking action to fight back. Miller's instinct told him to do something right there and then even if was not supposed to and that is what a true hero is all about. Shortly after his death, the Navy began a small officer-training program for black sailors. In March 1944, the Navy commissioned its first black officers, known as the Golden Thirteen.
Thank you World War II hero Mess Attendant 2nd Class Doris Miller you make us proud to be American. ~grace
