Posted on 01/18/2020 10:11:48 AM PST by re_tail20
One of the first U.S. heroes of World War II will be the namesake of one of America’s latest nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
On Monday, the Navy is expected to formally announce its decision to name a Ford-class aircraft carrier after Mess Attendant 2nd Class Doris “Dorie” Miller. He will be the first African-American to have an aircraft carrier named in his honor.
Petty Officer Miller also was the first African-American to receive the Navy Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor, for his heroic actions during the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor while he was assigned to the U.S.S. West Virginia, a battleship.
According to the Navy’s official account, Petty Officer Miller, then 22, was collecting laundry that morning when the general quarters alarm sounded. He ran to his assigned battle station, an anti-aircraft gun ammunition magazine, only to discover it had been destroyed by a Japanese torpedo.
He began assisting his wounded shipmates when an officer told him to go to the bridge where the captain had been seriously wounded. Petty Officer Miller pulled the captain to safety while under fire then immediately ran to a nearby .50 caliber machine gun. Although not formally trained on the weapon, he was a quick study.
“It wasn’t hard. I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine,” Petty Officer Miller later told Navy officials.
He kept shooting until he heard the signal to abandon the now-sinking battleship.
Petty Officer Miller was personally decorated by Adm. Chester Nimitz, commander of the American fleet in the Pacific.
He continued to serve but didn’t survive the war. Petty Officer Miller was killed in November 1943 while assigned to the U.S.S. Liscome Bay, an escort carrier, when it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during the Gilbert Islands Campaign...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
My father in law was on the Corregidor, another CVE (58), stationed next to the Liscombe Bay when she was hit. He was an aircraft mechanic, but was at his anti-aircraft battle station on the side of the ship at the time. He saw the torpedoes coming. They seemed to be coming right at him, but missed the Corregidor, and at least one struck the Liscombe Bay. It penetrated the ships magazine, and caused a horrific explosion. She sank in minutes killing almost everyone on board.
My father in law wrote of this in one of his memoirs.
“Um, I think that’s a Starship.... “
First nuclear powered aircraft carrier.
“But I guess it’s better than naming it after William J Clinton.”
But I guess it’s better than naming it after FOREVER IMPEACHED William J Clinton.
Fixed for ya
CSV Cuba Gooding JR.
Did no one else on this ship do that? Did no one else on any of the other ships do that?
Call me stupid, but I would have thought every man able on every ship would have done that.
Is what he did extraordinary? I would have thought it would have been the norm for hundreds of men on those ships.
Maybe I just don't get it and maybe there is more to the story. If Chester Nimitz Decorated him, he must have done something above and beyond the call of duty, and perhaps the article isn't conveying it well enough for me to see it.
Yes, apparently i'm that guy.
....wellll......sorta/kinda in this modern era....wait a few years for the U.S.S. William Clinton’s keel to be laid down...owwww; maybe not such a good choice of words....
...indeed....!! a frigate (??) or some such....commissioned in the early 1970s )??) and sent to the scrappers some 20 years later...the U.S.S. Miller was its name....
He's way better than Ben Affleck.
Yeah, but the women in that movie were cute.
Agree. Barf at naming a carrier after him for the sake of social justice.
This sort of cr@p will be our undoing in war.
And died serving ON a carrier. Better than another President name. I like this choice, and I also like names based on Revolutionary War battles and ships.
“I thought the Navy only named carriers after presidents.”
Nope. That’s only in the modern era when we name carriers after politicians except for WWII when FDR died and they named one after him. Take a look through the inspirational names of the first several dozen carriers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_carriers_of_the_United_States_Navy
Thank God Carter turned down being named after a warship. He ended up getting a supply ship or something. Otherwise definitely a carrier would be in his name especially since he’s a naval academy grad and served in the navy.
” The current naming convention does call for CVs to be named for presidents. “
A shameful recent convention of political shilling we should move away from. Dorie Miller was a badass. A Waco boy, grew up to 6’3” 200 pounds. Went as high as the navy would allow a black man. Became heavyweight boxing champ of the Battleship USS West Virginia.
Manned a machine gun against the Jap carrier attack that opened the war. Died less than 2 years later fighting on another US aircraft carrier.
Very deserving. And with the state of race relations, and the increasing black support of Trump, it’s awesome to put the name of a man every decent person can look at with pride.
CVN-80...to be built...has been designated Enterprise. It’s coming.
There was an Enterprise in WWII, and a nuke ship recently retired...Enterprise. Not to mention one of the new nuke carriers (CVN-80) has already been designated the Enterprise.
I agree.
I’ve always thought just one should be named after a fat but lovable descendant of Italians :)
But if it was named after me, it would sink from the weight :)
At least Carter served honorably in the Navy. Can’t say the same about a deceased dishonorable former senator.
I'm aware - was just funnin' with texasgator.
Frankly, Miller was one of those guys who was expected to run away and hide someplace til it was all over. He was just the laundry guy, after all.
Instead, he did something about it - even figuring out how to operate an AA gun on his own and to return fire. People still argue over whether he hit any enemy planes or not. I suggest that it doesn’t matter. He did something about it, period.
That Sunday morning began a time when we were all Americans, even those of us who had singled out for discrimination, and Miller played his part in it.
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