A Sailor's Story: Ship's Cook Third Class Doris Miller



Ship's Cook 3rd Class Doris Miller was born in Waco, Texas, on October 12, 1919. He attended A.J. Moore High School and played fullback on the football team until leaving school to help support his family, both by farming and working part-time at a local diner.

Ship's Cook Third Class Doris Millier enlisted in the US Navy on September 16, 1939, prior to the start of World War II, and was transferred to the USS West Virginia on January 2, 1940, serving as Mess Attendant. He was also the heavyweight boxing champion of the ship.

On December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, he manned a Browning 50 caliber anti-aircraft gun in defense of the USS West Virginia and fought off enemy planes, despite having received no weapons training (the US Navy did not allow African Americans in combat roles at that time)

After running out of ammunition and with orders to abandon the ship, Ship's Cook Third Class Doris Miller assisted in moving injured sailors off the boat, including mortally wounded Captain Mervyn Bennion. He received the Navy Cross for his actions, the first African American to earn that award.

Ship's Cook Third Class Doris Miller was later assigned to the carrier Liscome Bay which was torpedoed during the Battle of Makin Island on November 24, 1943. Ship's Cook Doris Miller and two-thirds of the 900-person crew were lost at sea and presumed dead. His memorial service was held on April 30, 1944, in Waco, Texas.

His actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor earned him quite a bit of recognition. Ship's Cook Third Class Doris Miller was featured on the Navy recruitment poster "Above and beyond the call of Duty" and gave talks in Oakland, California, Waco, Texas, Dallas, Texas, and the first graduating class of African American sailors at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago Illinois.

His actions were dramatized in "They Live Forever," a CBS radio series, and Gwendolyn Brook's poem "Negro Hero."

Actors Elven Havard and Cuba Downing Jr. represented his actions in the film and he was also featured in the "Distinguished Sailors" US Postal Service Commemorative Stamps. IN HIS HONOR, the US Navy has also named a Knox class frigate, USS Miller.

****** *********************************

a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia. 

In addition to her travel writings at www.takethebackroads.com, you can also read her book reviews at www.riteoffancy.com and US military biographies at www.everydaypatriot.com

Her online photography gallery can be found at shop.takethebackroads.com

#TaketheBackRoads

Like my page? Please consider supporting my work by visiting my sponsors and webshop or buying me a cup of coffee!


Location: Waco, TX, USA

Popular posts from this blog

An Airman's Story: Staff Sergeant Stanley Curtis Pillsbury

Image
Staff Sergeant Stanley Curtis Pillsbury was born on January 19, 1919, in Sanford, Maine, and grew up working on the family farm. Enlisting in the Army Air Corps (U.S. Air Force) on November 12, 1941, during World War II, he was assigned as a gunner for the B-24 Liberator Unit and was sent to the Pacific. In April 1943, during the Battle of  Funafuti, his plane, the "Superman," had taken heavy fire over Nauru. Staff Sergeant Stanley Pillsbury had received a severe injury to his leg from enemy rounds but still managed to shoot down an enemy plane while being bandaged.  The "Superman" was able to land (never to fly again), and Staff Sergeant Pillsbury retired from the war due to his injuries. He returned to Maine and provided author Laura Hillenbrand with a detailed account of his time in the service, which she used for her book Unbroken. Staff Sergeant Stanley  Pillsbury died on July 8, 2008, and rests in the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona. * Read ...
Read more

An Airman's Story: Staff Sergeant Francis Pershing McNamara

Image
Staff Sergeant Francis Pershing McNamara was born on February 19, 1943, in Pollagh, Ireland. He immigrated to the U.S. at one-month-old aboard the USS Baltic and grew up in Parma, Ohio. Staff Sergeant Francis McNamara enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Services on March 19, 1942, in response to World War II and was trained as an ariel gunner. He was assigned to the 11th Bombardment Group and deployed to the Pacific theater. On May 27, 1943, during a rescue mission, the plane he was on, the Green Hornet, crashed into the Pacific. Staff Sergeant Francis McNamara, First Lieutenant Russell Allen Phillips, and First Lieutenant Louis Zamperini were the only survivors and were adrift in the ocean. After 33 days, on June 30, 1943, Staff Sergeant Francis Pershing McNamara succumbed to starvation and exposure and was buried at sea. He is memorialized in the Court of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* ****** *********************...
Read more

A Soldier's Story: Lieutenant Sorrell Booke - Korean War

Image
Lieutenant Sorrell Booke was born on January 4, 1930, in Buffalo, New York. Always a performer, he made impressions for the local radio stations while attending Bennet High School, where he graduated class valedictorian in 1948. After high school, Lieutenant Sorrell Booke attended Columbia University, then moved to Yale University to receive his master's degree. However, his college education was briefly interrupted by his enlistment in the US Army during the Korean War, where Lieutenant Booke served as a counterintelligence officer. In 1960, after many years spent on the stage, Lieutenant Sorrell Booke made his way to Hollywood. He took on several roles in film, including one in the movie Black Like Me, before focusing on television roles. Lieutenant Sorrell Booke was nominated for an Emmy for his role in Dr. Kildare. He also appeared on M*A*S*H and All in the Family before landing his most famous role, that of Boss Hogg, in the television series Dukes of Hazzard, a part h...
Read more