Doris Miller
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Doris "Dorie" Miller (October 12, 1919 – November 24, 1943) was an African American cook in the United States Navy and a hero during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the Navy's second highest honor.
[edit] Biography
Born in Waco, Texas, Miller enlisted in the Navy in 1939 and received his basic training at the navy's mess attendant school in Norfolk, Virginia. At that time recruits of African and Asian-Pacific Island ancestry were limited to service in the Navy's messman branch which had an authorized strength equivalent to five percent of its enlisted force. As a mess attendant, Miller worked under his ship's officer cooks and stewards in providing domestic and food services in officer's country (the officers' messes and quarters where other enlisted personnel were usually prohibited). Contrary to popular belief Miller and the other "messmen" (like their White shipmates in other job ratings) also had vital battle station assignments during combat.
Assigned first to USS Pyro, in January 1940 he transferred to USS West Virginia (BB-48), where he became that ship's heavyweight boxing champion. He was temporarily assigned to Nevada (BB-36)in July 1940 and returned to the West Virginia, where he was serving in December 1941, at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Miller was collecting laundry as the attack started and ran to his battle station in a secondary battery ammunition magazine. Upon finding his battle station demolished, he proceeded to help in the rescue of his wounded shipmates. When Captain Mervyn Bennion was injured by a bomb splinter, Miller was ordered to the bridge to help in the futile effort to move him to a place of relative safety. When directed to assist in loading a pair of unattended Browning .50 caliber anti-aircraft guns, Miller took control of one of them and began firing at the attacking Japanese planes, even though he had no prior training in operating the weapon; he eventually ran out of ammunition and was ordered to abandon ship. A week later, he was assigned to the Indianapolis (CA-35), eventually serving with her in the South Pacific and in the Aleutian Islands. He would not return to the U.S. until late in 1942.
Although his heroism was initially ignored, the African American press picked up on the story of an un-named Black hero at Pearl Harbor and pressured the Navy to "identify and recognize Miller."
Finally, on May 27, 1942, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz personally awarded Miller the Navy Cross aboard Enterprise (CV-6). In his address, Nimitz remarked that "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 the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts." Only one month earlier, after intense pressure from desegregation advocates and liberal politicians, on April 7, 1942, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox had issued a directive that African Americans were to be enlisted in general service in the Navy, though "it and the other armed forces remained strictly segregated."
Miller rose through the ranks only to the level of Officer's Cook Third Class in 1943, still serving in the renamed Steward branch. In the spring of 1943, Miller was assigned to Liscome Bay (CVE-56) and was there when the carrier was sunk in the Gilbert Islands during Operation Galvanic on November 24, 1943. His body was never found, and one year later, on November 25, 1944, Miller was declared dead.
In addition to the Navy Cross, Miller received the Purple Heart, the American Defense Service Medal with the Fleet Clasp, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
Miller's status as a popular hero in the national Black American community equaled or exceeded that of the adored heavy-weight boxing champion, Joe Louis, during the war years, and the legendary story of his heroism and patriotism in the face of the institutional racism he was required to endure in the U.S. Navy is widely credited with advancing the cause of desegregation in all of the armed forces during the post-war period.
On 30 June 1973, the Knox-class frigate USS Miller (FF-1091) was named for Doris Miller. Simultaneously, Miller (DD-535) was renamed James Miller to distinguish "Mess Attendant/Cook" Doris Miller from Quartermaster James Miller, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for courageous conduct during the American Civil War.
He was portrayed by Elven Havard in the 1970 movie Tora! Tora! Tora! and by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the 2001 movie Pearl Harbor.
On October 11, 1991, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority dedicated a bronze commemorative plaque of Miller at the Miller Family Park located on the U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor.
[edit] References
See: Miller, Richard E. The Messman Chronicles: African Americans in the U.S. Navy, 1932 to 1943. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2004.
[edit] External links
Categories: Articles lacking sources from December 2006 | All articles lacking sources | 1919 births | 1943 deaths | People from Waco, Texas | African Americans | American World War II people | Attack on Pearl Harbor | Black history in the United States military | Navy Cross recipients | Recipients of the Purple Heart medal | United States Navy sailors
