The Millstone Times March 2020

Did You Know…? By Pam Teel

Did you know that Doris Miller (Dorie) was the first black American sailor in the United States Navy to be awarded the Navy Cross? He manned anti-aircraft guns during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 for which he had no training and then tended to the wounded. He was recognized by the Navy for his actions and awarded the Navy Cross, the third highest honor awarded by the Navy at the time, after the Medal of Honor and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. Miller's acts were heavily publicized in the black press, making him an iconic emblem of the war for black Americans. 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. On January 19, 2020, Miller got his well-deserved recognition when the Navy announced that CVN-81, a nuclear powered aircraft carrier would be named after him. He will be the first African-American to have an aircraft carrier named in his honor. Miller was born in Waco, Texas, on October 12, 1919. He was named Doris, as the midwife who assisted his mother was convinced that the baby would be female. The third of four sons, Miller helped around the house cooking meals and doing laundry, as well as working on the family farm. He was a fullback on the football team at Waco's High School. He began attending the eighth grade again on January 25, 1937 at age 17 but was forced to repeat the grade the following year, so he decided to drop out of school. He applied to join the Civil- ian Conservation Corps, but was not accepted. At that time, he was 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed more than 200 pounds.

Miller worked on his father's farm until shortly before his 20th birthday, and then enlisted in the United States Navy on September 16, 1939. He did his training at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, and then was promoted to Mess Attendant Third Class, one of the few ratings open at the time to black sailors. After training school, he was assigned to the ammunition ship Pyro and then 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. He was promoted to Mess Attendant Second Class on February 16, 1941. In July, he was on temporary duty aboard the Nevada at Secondary Battery Gunnery School. He returned to the West Virginia in August 1941. Attack on Pearl Harbor- Miller was a crewman aboard the West Virginia and awoke at 6 a.m. on December 7, 1941. He served breakfast mess and was collecting laundry at 7:57 a.m. when the Japanese aircraft hit the West Virginia. The "Battle Stations" alarm went off; Miller headed for his battle station, an anti-aircraft battery magazine amidships, only to discover that a torpedo had destroyed it. He went then to "Times Square," a central spot aboard the ship where the fore-to-aft and port-to-starboard passageways crossed, reporting himself available for other duties. Lieutenant Commander Doir C. Johnson, the ship's communications officer, spotted Miller and saw the potential of his pow- erful build, so he ordered him to accompany him to the bridge to assist in moving the captain, who had a gaping wound in his abdomen where he had apparently been hit by shrapnel. Miller and another sailor lifted the skipper but were unable to remove him from the bridge, so they carried him from his exposed position on the damaged bridge to a sheltered spot behind the tower. 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 number 1 and number 2 Browning .50 caliber anti-aircraft machine guns aft of the conning tower. 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. He was a quick study. White then loaded ammunition into both guns and assigned Miller the starboard gun. Miller fired the gun until he ran out of ammunition when he was ordered by Lieutenant Claude V. Ricketts 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. Captain 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-inch air- craft 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." 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 abandoned ship, including Miller. 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

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8 The Millstone Times

March 2020