In August 1939, a young man from Waco, Texas, went to Dallas and signed up for a six-year stint in the United States Navy. At the time the only jobs open to black sailors were either in the engine room or as a mess attendant working in the kitchens. Twenty-year old Doris Miller chose the latter. He told friends that he wanted to travel and earn some extra money for the family, the same reasons many a young lad has gone to sea throughout recorded history.
After training and processing in San Francisco, "Dorie" Miller was assigned briefly to the ammunition ship USS
Pyro and then in January 1940 to the most powerful battleship in the Pacific Fleet, the USS
West Virginia. The "Wee Vee" boasted eight 16" guns, 5" broadside guns and a number of .50 caliber anti-aircraft machine guns. Dorie went to work in the galley and joined the ship's boxing program, eventually winning the Wee Vee's heavyweight title. In the summer of 1941, Dorie briefly transferred to the USS
Nevada for extra training on secondary battery guns which resulted in a promotion when he returned. All-in-all Doris Miller's naval career was shaping up nicely.
Dawn on December 7, 1941, found the Wee Vee moored outboard of the USS
Tennessee square in the middle of "Battleship Row" in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
As the Japanese planes swept in, torpedoes struck the
West Virginia even as the General Alarm echoed through the ship. Dorie made his way to his battle station in the anti-aircraft battery magazine amidships only to discover that a torpedo hit had put him out of a job. He returned topside and helped carry wounded men to places of safety on deck. He was then sent to the bridge to aid the Captain who was mortally wounded. Finding he could do nothing to help and enraged at the Japanese planes still bombing and strafing his ship Miller went to a nearby .50 caliber machine gun and began firing back.
Miller had not trained on the .50 cal. but he later recalled, "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."
The
West Virginia, ripped by bombs and torpedoes, settled into the mud of Pearl Harbor. She took 130 men with her. She would be refloated and sent Bremerton, Washington, where where she would be repaired and substantially modified. Doris Miller would not go with her.
For his exploits that day, "Dorie" Miller received the nation's second-highest award for valor, the Navy Cross. At the award ceremony, the medal was presented to Miller by no less a personage than Admiral Chester Nimitz, commander of the entire Pacific Fleet.
Miller was re-assigned to the cruiser USS
Indianapolis where he served until the Spring of 1943 when he reported to the escort carrier USS
Liscome Bay.
The
Liscome Bay was cruising near Butaritari Island on November 24, 1943, when she wandered into the sights of the Japanese submarine I-175 at 0510. The submarine fired a single torpedo which struck
Liscome Bay near the stern directly under the magazine for the ship's sole 5" gun. The small carrier went up like a volcano and sank quickly. Only 272 of her 860 man crew were pulled from the sea.
Mess Attendant, 1st Class, Doris Miller of Waco, Texas, was not among them.
In a strange twist of fate, the USS
Indianapolis fell victim to Japanese torpedoes after delivering the components for the first atomic bomb "Little Boy" to Tinian Island in August, 1945. Every warship Dorie Miller had served on was sunk by Japanese torpedoes.
On 30 June 1973, the United States Navy commissioned the USS
Miller, a
Knox-class frigate, in honor of Doris Miller.
Now you know why.
