Doris Miller, Hero Pearl Harbor 1941, Fired AA Machine Gun from USS West Virginia, Navy Cross

Last edited Sun Mar 24, 2024, 12:51 PM - Edit history (1)

Wiki. Doris "Dorie" Miller (Oct. 12, 1919 – Nov. 24, 1943) was an American Naval cook who was the first Black recipient of the Navy Cross and a nominee for the Medal of Honor. As a mess attendant second class in the United States Navy, Miller helped carry wounded sailors to safety during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He then manned an anti-aircraft gun and, despite no prior training in gunnery, officially shot down one plane (according to Navy Dept. Records) but Doris and other eye witnesses claimed the ranges of four to six...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Miller
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Doris Miller, 12 Oct. 1919 - 24 Nov. 1943, Naval History, Ed.

Doris Miller, known as "Dorie" to shipmates and friends, was born in Waco, Texas, on 12 Oct. 1919. 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. He worked on his father's farm before enlisting in the U.S Navy as Mess Attendant, Third Class, at Dallas, Texas, on 16 Sept. 1939, to 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 Cook, Third Class.

Following training at the Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Va. Miller was assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro (AE-1) where he served as a Mess Attendant, and on 2 Jan. 1940 was transferred to USS West Virginia (BB-48), where he became the ship's heavyweight boxing champion.. He returned to West Virginia and on 3 Aug., and was serving in that battleship when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor 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. He subsequently manned a 50 caliber Browning 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 15 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.. Miller was commended by the Sec. of the Navy Frank Knox on 1 April 1942, and on 27 May 1942 he received the Navy Cross, which Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet personally presented to Miller for his extraordinary courage in battle...
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-m/miller-doris.html