A Military First: A Supercarrier Is Named After An African American Sailor

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Doris «Dorie Miller, USN Mess Attendant Second Class, May 27, 1942 after presentation of the Navy Cross by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz aboard USS Enterprise.

U.S. Navy photos courtesy of the National Archives

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U.S. Navy photos courtesy of the National Archives

History
U.S. Navy To Name Aircraft Carrier After WWII Hero Doris Miller

‘He should be recognized and honored’

Akers said much of the attention at the time, and since, has been on Miller firing the anti-aircraft gun, which he wasn’t even trained to do. In fact, it’s a moment Hollywood briefly portrayed in several movies about the attack.

But Akers said what Miller did afterward is just as important: he began pulling injured sailors out of the burning, oil-covered water of the harbor, and was one of the last men to leave his ship as it sank, and continued getting sailors to safety after that.

An official Navy commendation list of those whose actions during the attack stood out mentioned a Black sailor.

But it didn’t bother to name Miller, a 22-year-old sharecropper’s son from Waco, Texas.

«It made two lines in the newspapers, said Frank Bolden, who was a war correspondent for the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the leading Black newspapers of the day. He spoke in an interview with the Freedom Forum before his death in 2003.

«The Courier thought he should be recognized and honored. We sent not a reporter, we sent our executive editor to the naval department. They said we don’t know the name of the messman. There are so many of them.

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Doris «Dorie Miller, receiving the Navy Cross from Admiral Chester Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, during a ceremony on board the USS Enterprise on May 27, 1942.

U.S. Navy photos courtesy of the National Archives

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U.S. Navy photos courtesy of the National Archives

U.S. Navy Mess Attendant First Class Doris Miller speaking during his war bond tour stop at the Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Ill. on Jan. 7, 1943.

U.S. Navy photos courtesy of the National Archives

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U.S. Navy photos courtesy of the National Archives

‘Simply seemed like the right thing to do’

The decision to name the new supercarrier for Miller was made by Thomas Modly, who was acting Secretary of the Navy until April.

«I think it was probably long overdue, Modly said. He said he asked a small group of retired Black admirals he had met to recommend a name. He asked them to try to find an African American enlisted sailor, if possible.

«And someone from World War II, because that was a point at which the country was really united, he said. «And African Americans who served, were still in a lot of places growing up under Jim Crow. And so it required a lot of bravery and patriotism.

The retired admirals consulted with an historian, Modly said, «and literally, they came back to me within five days and said it has to be Doris Miller. And the story of Doris Miller is is is an incredible one, so they didn’t need to convince me.

It simply seemed like the right thing to do given the U.S. Navy’s diversity, he said, especially compared to the Navies of other nations.

«The Navy is made up of every single element of our population, it’s probably the most diverse representation of the country. We have about 340,000 active duty sailors and they come from every part of the country, every skin color, every ethnicity.

Miller didn’t live to see the lasting effects of his heroics.

He went back to sea in the Pacific and in 1943, his ship was torpedoed and sank. Miller was among the hundreds of sailors who died.

His body was never found. His name, though, still graces schools, roads, and community centers around the country.

And the Navy, which at first wouldn’t even share that name, will soon give it equal footing with the names of Presidents.

Akers, the Navy historian said, in addition to everything else, Miller was a good role model for sailors, a history lesson in trying to do the right thing.

«Despite the fact that he was denied certain basic constitutional rights because of the racism in our society at the time, Dorie didn’t let that deter him, she said. «It didn’t lessen his patriotism, his love for country, his determination to serve and to give the Navy his very best, and that says a lot. That says a lot.