Profiles in Courage: Doris Miller

When Dorie Miller joined the Navy, there weren't many career fields open to Black sailors. There weren't many options open to Miller, the son of a Waco, Texas sharecropper, anywhere, really. The U.S. Navy would be his destiny, however, and Miller would leave his mark, not only on the Navy but on Black sailors and soldiers who were about to fight the biggest war America had ever seen. 

Doris Miller was a hard worker. He grew up the third of four sons, working on the family farm, helping his mom cook meals, and even finding the time to play high school football. Eventually, he dropped out of school but made up for it by learning taxidermy and becoming a crack shot with a .22 rifle. At 6'3", he was an imposing figure, even as a young man. His stature would come to serve him well in the military. 

He enlisted in the Navy in 1939 and became a mess attendant, one of the few jobs open to Black sailors at the time. He was briefly assigned to an ammunition ship, but his rating was needed elsewhere, specifically the battleship USS West Virginia. So he was transferred. Miller thrived in Navy life and was even able to send money back home.

Miller was quickly promoted aboard the battleship and soon took up boxing. He was so imposing and so skilled - not to mention rather large - he fought his way to becoming the ship's heavyweight champion. After a brief stint aboard the USS Nevada for gunnery school, he was sent back to the West Virginia. It was on this battleship, moored in Pearl Harbor that Miller's gunnery training paid off. 

He was awake and already on duty when the alarm for general quarters went off. He went to his battle station, an anti-aircraft gun situated amidship, but when he arrived, he found a torpedo had already taken it out. The ship would be hit a total of seven times. He began moving the wounded to safer places before he was assigned to help Capt. Mervyn Bennion, who was mortally wounded himself. 

Captain Bennion, knowing his condition, refused to leave command and instead began giving orders from a slightly safer position behind the conning tower. One of his orders was to fight and defend the ship at all costs. He died shortly after. While on the conning tower, Miller was assigned by Lt. Claude Ricketts to help load ammo into one of the unmanned .50-caliber machine guns on the tower. After briefly showing Miller how the gun worked, Ricketts was briefly distracted. 

When Ricketts went to man the gun himself, he found Miller already shooting at incoming Japanese fighters. Miller fired until the weapon ran out of ammunition but is credited with downing at least two enemy planes. 

Miller then began helping move the wounded through the smoke, oil, and water to the quarterdeck, which saved the lives of many crewmembers when the West Virginia sank into the shallow waters of the harbor. Surviving crew members abandoned ship as it sank, Miller included. 

The West Virginia was ultimately raised to fight again, but Dorie Miller was transferred to the USS Indianapolis, a heavy cruiser bound for Pacific duty. One hundred thirty-two men died aboard the West Virginia during the attack on Pearl Harbor, but many others who might have died were saved by the actions of Doris "Dorie" Miller. 

After the smoke had cleared, American newspapers and the NAACP pushed for Dorie Miller to be awarded the Medal of Honor or the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions at Pearl Harbor. President Franklin D. Roosevelt instead awarded him the Navy Cross, and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox called him one of "the first heroes of World War II. 

The medal was presented to him by Adm. Chester Nimitz, who said, "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." 

Miller would not survive the war, however. He eventually found himself on the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay. The Liscome Bay was torpedoed as it approached Makin Island in November 1943. The torpedo detonated the ship's own weapons and went to the bottom in just 23 minutes. Only 272 of 900 crewmen survived.