Doris Miller or as many like to call him, Dorie, is one of the most renowned heroes from the World War II era. One of his biggest contributions to African-American history was earning the Navy Cross award. This is one of the highest awards bestowed on sailors for their heroism in combat missions. Miller’s life began in Waco, Texas where he was born to Connery and Henrietta Miller in October of 1919. Now, you might be wondering how he got the name “Dorie” as it sounds very feminine. Well, it’s believed that the midwife who helped his mother deliver felt strongly about the baby being a girl. And since Henrietta also had such high hopes of getting a baby girl, she decided to name him Dorie, defying her husband’s wishes in the process.
Miller was the third born of four siblings. He was raised in a tiny sharecrop farm located in the outcasts of Waco, Speegleville, Texas. He started working on the family farm at a tender age to boost the household’s income. Overall, he was a well-mannered kid who also prepared meals and helped with laundry at home.
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.
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
( presented Miller with the Navy Cross, on August 7, 1942)
In his youth, Dorie Miller had a pretty big frame, standing 6’3” tall and weighing over 200 pounds. His tall frame captured the attention of his school’s football coach who enlisted him as a fullback. Not long after that, he was forced to drop out of Alexander James Moore High School due to poor performance. Following the drop-out, he began working as a cook at a local restaurant to support his family financially.
Just a few days before his twentieth birthday, Miller decided to enlist in the U.S. Navy at a recruiting station located in Dallas. Upon enlisting, he was taken to an ammunition ship in Norfolk, Virginia where he went through bootcamp training. After training, he was transferred to one of the largest battleships, the USS West Virginia which was based in Pearl Harbor. He gained a lot of fame and respect from his shipmates after winning the heavyweight championship. This was no small achievement considering the ship had a crew of up to 2,000 men. But in terms of position, he worked as a messman. This was the lowest rank and was typically given to African-American sailors aboard such battleships. It involved making the beds of their white officers, polishing and shining their shoes, and waiting on them in their
quarters.
If you’ve read black history online, then you know that such racial discrimination was rampant at the time. This explains why black sailors were prohibited from holding any positions other than that of a messman. The black sailors’ battle stations were located below decks, where they were asked to deliver ammunition to the gunners.
On December 7, 1941, Miller was going about his day as usual – collecting dirty laundry below deck – when he heard bombs blasting his ship. He immediately went to his battle station where he found the entire area flooded. As such, he went looking for his superiors to seek reassignment. He came across the communications officer who asked him to carry the wounded captain to a safer area. Miller was also tasked with feeding ammo to one of two .50-caliber machine guns. By this time, almost the entire deck had been set ablaze. Still, Miller stayed on and helped to fight off the incoming attacks from Japanese rivals. He even took control of the second machine gun and fired shots at some of the planes yet he
didn’t have any previous experience using such weaponry. These heroic acts not only helped to shape black history but also earned Miller acknowledgment from the Secretary of the Navy Cross, Frank Knox.
However, it wasn’t until May 1942 that he was presented with the Medal of Honor by then-commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Chester Nimitz. Unfortunately, Miller died a year later when his ship was attacked by a torpedo.