Doris "Dorie" Miller (October 12, 1919 – November 24, 1943) was an American Messman Third Class in the United States Navy.[1] During the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Miller manned anti-aircraft guns, (despite having no formal training in their use), and attended to the wounded. For his actions, he was recognized by the Navy and awarded the Navy Cross.

He was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the third highest honor awarded by the US Navy at the time, after the Medal of Honor and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. The Navy Cross now precedes the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.[2] Miller's acts were heavily publicized in the black press, making him an iconic emblem of the war for black Americans.[3] Nearly two years after Pearl Harbor, he was killed in action when his ship, Liscome Bay, was sunk by a Japanese submarine during the Battle of Makin.

Early life and education [ edit ]

Miller was born in Waco, Texas, on October 12, 1919, to Connery and Henrietta Miller. He was named Doris, as the midwife who assisted his mother was convinced the baby would be female.[4] He was the third of four sons and helped around the house, cooking meals and doing laundry, as well as working on the family farm. Miller was a good student and was a fullback on the football team at Waco's A.J. Moore High School.[5] On January 25, 1937, at age 17, he began attending the eighth grade again. Forced to repeat the grade the following year, Miller decided to drop out of school.[6] He filled his time squirrel hunting with a .22 rifle and completed a correspondence course in taxidermy. Miller applied to join the Civilian Conservation Corps, but was not accepted. At that time he was 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighed more than 200 pounds (91 kg).[6]

Miller worked on his father's farm until shortly before his 20th birthday. On September 16, 1939, he enlisted in the United States Navy. Following training at Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Virginia, he was promoted to Mess Attendant Third Class, one of the few ratings open at the time to African Americans.[7] After training school, he was assigned to the ammunition ship Pyro and then was transferred on January 2, 1940 to the battleship West Virginia. It was on the West Virginia where he started competition boxing, becoming the ship's heavyweight champion. Miller was promoted to Mess Attendant Second Class on February 16, 1941. In July of that year he was on temporary duty aboard the Nevada at Secondary Battery Gunnery School. He returned to the West Virginia in August 1941.[2][7]

It is speculated that Miller's nickname "Dorie" originated from a typographical error. After he was nominated for recognition for his actions on December 7, 1941, the Pittsburgh Courier released a story on March 14, 1942, that gave his name as "Dorie Miller".[8] Since then, some writers have suggested it was a "nickname to shipmates and friends."[6]

Career [ edit ]

Attack on Pearl Harbor [ edit ]

On December 7, 1941, Miller was a crewman aboard the West Virginia and awoke that morning at 0600 (6:00 am). After serving breakfast mess, he was collecting laundry when at 0757, Lieutenant Commander Shigeharu Murata from the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi[6] launched the first of nine torpedoes that would hit West Virginia. When the "Battle Stations" alarm went off, Miller headed for his battle station, an anti-aircraft battery magazine amidship, only to discover that a torpedo had destroyed it.

He went then to Times Square, a central spot where the fore to aft and port to starboard passageways crossed, and reported himself available for other duty.[6] Lieutenant Commander Doir C. Johnson, the ship's communications officer, spotted Miller and, seeing the potential of his powerful build, ordered him to accompany him to the bridge to assist with moving the ship's captain, Mervyn Bennion, who had a gaping wound in his abdomen, where he had apparently been hit by shrapnel. Miller and another sailor lifted the skipper and, unable to remove him from the bridge, carried him from his exposed position on the damaged bridge to a sheltered spot behind the conning tower.[9] The captain refused to leave his post, questioned his officers about the condition of the ship, and gave orders.

Lieutenant Frederic H. White ordered Miller to help him and Ensign Victor Delano load the unmanned #1 and #2 Browning .50 caliber anti-aircraft machine guns aft of the conning tower.[10] Miller was not familiar with the weapon, but White and Delano instructed him on how to operate it. Delano expected Miller to feed ammunition to one gun, but his attention was diverted, and when he looked again, Miller was firing one of the guns. White then loaded ammunition into both guns and assigned Miller the starboard gun.[6]

Miller fired the gun until he ran out of ammunition, when he was ordered by Lieutenant Claude V. Ricketts, along with Lieutenant White and Chief Signalman A.A. Siewart, to help carry the captain up to the navigation bridge out of the thick oily smoke generated by the many fires on and around the ship. Bennion was only partially conscious at this point and died soon afterward. Japanese aircraft eventually dropped two armor-piercing bombs through the deck of the battleship and launched five 18 in (460 mm) aircraft torpedoes into her port side. When the attack finally lessened, Miller helped move injured sailors through oil and water to the quarterdeck, thereby "unquestionably saving the lives of a number of people who might otherwise have been lost."[11]

The ship was heavily damaged by bombs, torpedoes and resulting explosions and fires, but the crew prevented her from capsizing by counter-flooding a number of compartments. Instead, West Virginia sank to the harbor bottom as her surviving crew, including Miller, abandoned ship.[2]

Commendation [ edit ]

Chester W. Nimitz pins the Navy Cross on Doris Miller, at ceremony on board USS Enterprise (CV-6) at Pearl Harbor, May 27, 1942.

On December 15, Miller was transferred to the heavy cruiser Indianapolis. On January 1, 1942, the Navy released a list of commendations for actions on December 7. Among them was a single commendation for an unnamed Negro. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had asked President Franklin D. Roosevelt to award the Distinguished Service Cross to the unknown Negro sailor. The Navy Board of Awards received a recommendation that the sailor be considered for recognition. On March 12, 1942, an Associated Press story named Miller as the sailor, citing the African-American newspaper Pittsburgh Courier;[12] additional news reports credited Dr. Lawrence D. Reddick with learning the name through correspondence with the Navy Department.[13] In the following days, Senator James M. Mead (D-NY) introduced a Senate bill [S.Res. 2392] to award Miller the Medal of Honor,[14] and Representative John D. Dingell, Sr. (D-MI) introduced a matching House bill [H.R. 6800].[15]

Miller was recognized as one of the "first US heroes of World War II". He was commended in a letter signed by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on April 1, and the next day, CBS Radio broadcast an episode of the series "They Live Forever," which dramatized Miller's actions.[6]

Negro organizations began a campaign to honor Miller with additional recognition. On April 4, the Pittsburgh Courier urged readers to write to members of the congressional Naval Affairs Committee in support of awarding the Medal of Honor to Miller.[16] The All-Southern Negro Youth Conference launched a signature campaign on April 17–19. On May 10, the National Negro Congress denounced Knox's recommendation against awarding Miller the Medal of Honor. On May 11, President Roosevelt approved the Navy Cross for Miller.[17]

On May 27, 1942, Miller was personally recognized by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise in Pearl Harbor.[2][18] Nimitz presented Miller with the Navy Cross, at the time the third-highest Navy award for gallantry during combat. The citation reads as follows:

For distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. While at the side of his Captain on the bridge, Miller, despite enemy strafing and bombing and in the face of a serious fire, assisted in moving his Captain, who had been mortally wounded, to a place of greater safety, and later manned and operated a machine gun directed at enemy Japanese attacking aircraft until ordered to leave the bridge.[19]

Nimitz said of Miller's commendation, "This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I'm sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts."[2][18]

World War II service [ edit ]

Miller was advanced to Mess Attendant First Class on June 1, 1942.[10] On June 27, the Pittsburgh Courier called for Miller to be allowed to return home for a war bond tour along with Caucasian war heroes.[20] On July 25, the Pittsburgh Courier ran a photo with Miller labelled "He Fought... Keeps Mop", next to a photo of a Caucasian survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack receiving an officer's commission.[21] The photo caption stated that the Navy felt Miller was "too important waiting tables in the Pacific" for him to return to the United States.

On November 23, 1942, Miller returned to Pearl Harbor and was ordered on a war bond tour while still attached to Indianapolis.[6] In December of that year and January 1943, he gave presentations in Oakland, California, in his hometown of Waco, in Dallas, and to the first graduating class of black sailors from Great Lakes Naval Training Station.[10] Following the tour duty, Miller reported to Puget Sound Navy Yard on May 15, 1943. He was advanced to Cook Third Class on June 1[1][2] when he reported to the escort carrier Liscome Bay. Miller was featured on a 1943 Navy recruiting poster — "Above and beyond the call of duty" — designed by David Stone Martin.[22]

Death [ edit ]

After training in Hawaii, Liscome Bay took part in the Battle of Makin Island beginning November 20, 1943.[23] On November 24, the ship was struck in the stern by a torpedo from the Japanese submarine I-175.[24] The aircraft bomb magazine detonated a few moments later, causing the ship to sink in 23 minutes. There were 272 survivors from the crew of over 900, but Miller was not among them.[25] Along with two-thirds of the crew, he was listed as "presumed dead."[26] On December 7, 1943, two years after Miller's heroic actions at Pearl Harbor, his parents were informed that their son was missing in action.[6]

A memorial service for Dorie Miller was held on April 30, 1944, at the Second Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, sponsored by the Victory Club.[6] On May 28, a granite marker was dedicated at Moore High School in Waco to honor Miller.[6] On November 25, 1944—a year and a day after the loss of Liscome Bay—Miller was officially declared dead by the Navy.[2]

Awards and decorations [ edit ]

Medals and ribbons [ edit ]

Legacy [ edit ]

Commemorative plaque for Dorie Miller at the National Museum of the Pacific War

Dorie Miller memorial at the housing cooperative named for him in Corona, Queens

Doris Miller Auditorium in Austin, Texas

Memorials

Schools

Community-related (e.g. streets & parks)

Military-related

Veteran-related

Radio

Film

Other

References [ edit ]