Hometown: Waco, TX
Branch: U.S. Navy
Unit: U.S.S. Liscome Bay
Military Honors: Navy Cross, Purple
Heart
Date of Sacrifice: November 24, 1943 - KIA near the Butaritari Atoll, Gilbert Islands 
Age: 24
Conflict: World War II, 1939-1945

Original story from Naval History and Heritage Command

While serving aboard the USS West Virginia (BB-48), “Dorie” Miller distinguished himself by courageous conduct during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the first African American recipient of the Navy Cross for Valor. The ships USS Miller (DE/FF-1091) and USS Doris Miller (CVN-81) were named in his honor.

Doris Miller, known as “Dorie” to shipmates and friends, was born in Waco, Texas, on October 12, 1919, to Henrietta and Conery Miller. 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 September 16, 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, Virginia, Miller was assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro (AE-1) where he served as a Mess Attendant, and on January 2, 1940 was transferred to USS West Virginia (BB-48), where he became the ship’s heavyweight boxing champion. In July of that year he had temporary duty aboard USS Nevada (BB-36) at Secondary Battery Gunnery School.

He returned to West Virginia and on August 3, and was serving in that battleship when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Miller had arisen at 6:00 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. He was assigned to carry wounded fellow Sailors to places of greater safety. 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 fifteen 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. Subsequently re-floated, repaired, and modernized, the battleship served in the Pacific theater through to the end of the war in August of 1945.

Miller was commended by the Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on April 1, 1942, and on May 27, 1942 he received the Navy Cross, which Fleet Admiral (then Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet personally presented to Miller on board aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) for his extraordinary courage in battle.

On December 13, 1941, Miller reported to USS Indianapolis (CA-35), and subsequently returned to the west coast of the United States in November of 1942. Assigned to the newly constructed USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) in the spring of 1943, Miller was on board that escort carrier during Operation Galvanic, the seizure of Makin and Tarawa Atolls in the Gilbert Islands. Liscome Bay’s aircraft supported operations ashore between November 20-23, 1943.

At 5:10 a.m. on November 24, while cruising near Butaritari Island, a single torpedo from Japanese submarine I-175 struck the escort carrier near the stern. The aircraft bomb magazine detonated a few moments later, sinking the warship within minutes. Listed as missing following the loss of that escort carrier, Miller was officially presumed dead on November 25, 1944, a year and a day after the loss of Liscome Bay. Only 272 Sailors survived the sinking of Liscome Bay, while 646 died.

In addition to the Navy Cross, Miller was entitled to the Purple Heart Medal, the American Defense Service Medal—Fleet Clasp, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

Commissioned on June 30, 1973, 20-23, USS Miller (FF-1091), a Knox-class frigate, was named in honor of Doris Miller. On January 20, 2020, the Navy officially named its newest aircraft carrier: the USS Doris Miller (CVN-81).

On October 11, 1991, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority dedicated a bronze commemorative plaque of Miller at the Miller Family Park located on the U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor.

Sources
Story, Card Photo: Naval History and Heritage Command—Doris Miller
Doris Miller Memorial: Doris’s Story
Britannica: Doris Miller
Military Times, the Hall of Valor Project: Doris Miller
Burial Site: Find a Grave