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 ...
A most excellent name for a new Aircraft Carrier.
I wish they would go back to naming capital ships after STATES. We after all, are paying for them.
USS Arizona, West Virginia, and Oklahoma should go to the front of the line.
>I second that. It was battleships that were named after states. Since carriers are now the main capital ships, I think they should be named after the states.
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.
Amen brother.
Honestly I didn’t know the part about pulling the Captain to safety.
All I’d ever heard was the part about the AA gun. Some say he shot down two aircraft, some say only one. Some say none.
I think it’s good that there’s already been a ship named after him, and I think it’s good that there’s gonna be another one.
That said, I like the tradition of capital ships being named after States, and carriers named after Revolutionary War battles. But, the times change...
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