Doris Miller

Born 1919 · Joined the Ancestors 1943

Fact

First Black American to receive the Navy Cross

Fact

Manned a gun he was never trained to use because the Navy restricted Black sailors

Fact

An aircraft carrier — the USS Doris Miller — was named in his honor

Doris "Dorie" Miller was a Navy messman — the only rating available to Black sailors in 1941 — who became the first Black American to receive the Navy Cross for his actions during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. When the attack began, Miller carried wounded sailors to safety, including his mortally wounded captain, then manned an anti-aircraft machine gun — a weapon he had never been trained to use because the Navy didn't train Black sailors for combat — and began firing at Japanese planes.

Born in Waco, Texas, on October 12, 1919, Miller was the son of sharecroppers. He was a fullback on his high school football team and joined the Navy in 1939, where he was assigned to the mess — cooking and serving food — because the Navy restricted Black sailors to service roles. He was the ship's heavyweight boxing champion aboard the USS West Virginia.

Miller's heroism at Pearl Harbor made him a symbol for the Double V Campaign — victory against fascism abroad and racism at home. The Pittsburgh Courier and other Black newspapers championed his story, and the NAACP pressured the Navy to recognize him. He received the Navy Cross from Admiral Chester Nimitz in May 1942. Miller was killed in action on November 24, 1943, when the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay was torpedoed near the Gilbert Islands. He was 24 years old. In 2020, the Navy named an aircraft carrier — the USS Doris Miller — in his honor, the first carrier named for a Black American.