Doris Miller, known as "Dorie" to shipmates and friends, was born in Waco, Texas, on 12 October 1919:

Doris Miller, known as "Dorie" to shipmates and friends, was born in Waco, Texas, on 12 October 1919:

„ to Henrietta and Conery Miller. He had three brothers, one of which served in the Army during World War II. 

While attending Moore High School in Waco, he was a fullback on the football team and he worked on his father's farm.

On 16 September 1939, he enlisted in the U.S Navy as Mess Attendant, Third Class, at Dallas, Texas, so he could travel, and earn money for his family.

 He later was commended by the Secretary of the Navy, was advanced to Mess Attendant, Second Class and First Class, and subsequently was promoted to Ship's Cook, Third Class. 

 UNDERSTAND, this was about all the segregated U.S. Navy would allow an able bodied male Negro to do in the service of his country. 

 Following training at the Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Virginia, Miller was assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro where he served as a Mess Attendant.

  On 2 January 1940 was transferred to USS West Virginia, where he became the ship's heavyweight boxing champion. 

 In July 1940 he had temporary duty aboard USS Nevada at Secondary Battery Gunnery School.  On August 3 1940, he returned to West Virginia.  

On 7 December 1941, Miller had arisen at 6 a.m., and was collecting laundry when the alarm for general quarters sounded. 

He headed for his battle station, the antiaircraft battery magazine amidship, only to discover that torpedo damage had wrecked it, so he went on deck. 

Because of his physical prowess, he was assigned to carry wounded fellow Sailors to places of greater safety. 

 Then an officer ordered him to the bridge to aid the mortally wounded Captain of the ship. 

 At the onset of the attack, Miller and Ensign Edmond Jacoby made their way to the deck, and encountered Lieutenant Commander Doir Johnson who asked Miller to come along and assist in caring for the ship’s skipper, Captain Mervyn Bennion.

 The skipper had been seriously injured when a splinter from a bomb that hit the Battleship Tennessee raked the bridge of the West Virginia. 

Johnson and Miller lifted the skipper and carries him from an exposed position to a sheltered spot behind the conning tower.

 Ensign Victor Delano spotted two inactive machine guns and recruited another officer and a seaman to activate the guns and attack the invading enemy planes. 

Mess Attendant Second Class Miller was to supply them with ammunition. As Delano’s attention was attracted elsewhere, Miller began firing a stream of bullets at the Japanese planes that roared over the deck. 

Even though he had never been trained in the operation of a machine gun due to a rigid segregated Navy policy, Miller continue to fire away. 

An accurate assessment of Miller’s astonishing marksmanship was impossible to determine due to the confusion of the battle, however, he was officially credited with downing two Japanese planes. 

Some witnesses insisted that he had disposed of as many as six.  He subsequently manned the anti-aircraft machine gun until he ran out of ammunition and was ordered to abandon ship. 

 Miller described firing the machine gun during the battle, a weapon which he had not been trained to operate: "It wasn't hard. I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. 

I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about fifteen minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us.

 During the attack, Japanese aircraft dropped two armored piercing bombs through the deck of the battleship and launched five 18-inch aircraft torpedoes into her port side.

 Heavily damaged by the ensuing explosions, and suffering from severe flooding below decks, the crew abandoned ship while West Virginia slowly settled to the harbor bottom. 

Of the 1,541 men on West Virginia during the attack, 130 were killed and 52 wounded. 

Subsequently refloated, repaired, and modernized, the battleship served in the Pacific theater through to the end of the war in August 1945.

Miller was commended by the Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on 1 April 1942, and on 27 May 1942 he received the Navy Cross, which Fleet Admiral (then Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet personally presented to Miller on board aircraft carrier USS Enterprise for his extraordinary courage in battle. Speaking of Miller, Nimitz remarked:

--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.--

Despite shooting down several attacking aircraft his citiation for bravery his citation reads: "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.

Like Miller, no African-American sailor or officer was ever recommended for or awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor in WW II.

 They served despite many other similar heroic efforts, and under extremely oppresive conditions during WW II. 

Many often fought a quiet, internal battle with officers who consistantly implemented unlawful orders, denied them equal protection under the Constitution, and generally put their men at risk in the face of the enemy.

On 13 December 1941, Miller reported to USS Indianapolis, and subsequently returned to the west coast of the United States in November 1942. Miller′s rate was raised to Mess Attendant First Class on 1 June. 

On 27 June, The Pittsburgh Courier called for Miller to be allowed to return home for a war bond tour like white heroes.

 On 23 November, Miller arrived at Maui, and was ordered on a war bond tour while still attached to the heavy cruiser Indianapolis.

 In December 1942 and January 1943, he gave talks in Oakland, California, in his hometown of Waco, Texas, in Dallas, and to the first graduating class of African-American sailors from Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Chicago.  

Chester W. Nimitz pins the Navy Cross on Dorie, at ceremony on board warship in Maui, May 27, 1942.

 The black newspaper the Pittsburgh Courier continued to hammer to return Miller for a war bond tour in the February 6, 1943 issue. 

The caption to Miller′s photo read, "He fought...Keeps Mop", while another hero of Maui got a commission.

 It said that Miller was "too important waiting tables in the Pacific to return him", even though he was already on tour.  Doris Miller reported for duty at Puget Sound Navy Yard on 15 May 1943. 

His rate was again raised, to Petty Officer, Ship′s Cook Third Class on 1 June, and he reported to the escort carrier Liscome Bay.Assigned to the newly constructed USS Liscome Bay in the spring of 1943, Miller was on board that escort carrier during Operation Galvanic, the seizure of Makin and Tarawa Atolls in the Gilbert Islands. Liscome Bay's aircraft supported operations ashore between 20-23 November 1943. 

At 5:10 a.m. on 24 November, while cruising near Butaritari Island, a single torpedo from Japanese submarine I-175 struck the escort carrier near the stern.

 The aircraft bomb magazine detonated a few moments later, sinking the warship within minutes.

 Listed as missing following the loss of that escort carrier, Miller was officially presumed dead 25 November 1944, a year and a day after the loss of Liscome Bay. Only 272 Sailors survived the sinking of Liscome Bay, while 646 died. 

 A memorial service was held on 30 April 1944, at the Waco, Texas, Second Baptist Church, sponsored by the Victory Club. On 28 May, a granite marker was dedicated at Moore High School to honor Miller.

 On 25 November 1944, James Forrestal, the Secretary of the Navy, announced that Miller was "dead"

In addition to the Navy Cross, Miller was entitled to the Purple Heart Medal; the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal.  

Commissioned on 30 June 1973, USS Miller, a Knox-class frigate, was named in honor of Doris Miller.  

On 11 October 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.

Many believe, I among them, that this man yet deserves the Congressional Medal of Honor. To that end, his niece has written:

" ... he had no idea that his heroic actions aboard the West Virginia on that day at Pearl Harbor, would bring major changes to the United States Navy; changes that opened doors for advancement and higher opportunities for Blacks. Miller served aboard USS Indianapolis from December 1941 to May 1943. 

He was then assigned to the escort carrier Liscome Bay and was lost with that ship when it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on November 24, 1943."

Vicky Miller further opined that he did not receive the Medal of Honor because of discrimination. 

However, the naval website says that based on his actions, Miller was entitled to the Purple Heart Medal; the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal, all of which he was awarded.

Doris "Dorie" Miller lived and died a hero.