"December 7, 1941: Mess Attendant Doris "Dorie" Miller was collecting laundry on the USS West Virginia when Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor. Despite zero training on weapons, Miller manned a .50 caliber antiaircraft gun and fired at enemy planes until ordered to abandon ship. He became the first Black recipient of the Navy Cross. But the Navy sent him back to mess duty, and he died 22 months later on the USS Liscome Bay. This is the story of the untrained cook who became a hero—and what it cost him."
"Lt. Cmdr. Johnson recalled Miller “blazing away as though he had fired one all his life.”
"Miller himself stated that “when the Japanese bombers attacked my ship at Pearl Harbor I forgot all about the fact that I and other Negroes can be only messmen in the Navy and are not taught how to man an antiaircraft gun.”
"Descending to the boat deck, Miller helped pull sailors from the burning water, unquestionably saving the lives of a number of men. By then, the ship was flooded below decks and rapidly settling in the harbor’s shallow water, and its senior surviving officer gave the order to abandon ship.
"Doris Miller was one of the last three men to leave West Virginia. He and his shipmates swam 300 or 400 yards to shore, avoiding patches of flaming oil from the battleship Arizona and strafing from Japanese planes.
"Miller later told his brother that “with those bullets spattering all around me, it was by the grace of God that I never got a scratch.”
"Even then, Miller helped scores of injured sailors to safety ashore." . . .
Who Was Doris Miller & Why Did He Have An Aircraft Carrier Named After Him?
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