Navy to name new $13bn aircraft carrier after Pearl Harbor hero who manned machine gun to fight off Japanese aircraft... - Miller_was_the_first_African_American_to_receive_t he_Navy_Cross.jpg ...

....and was the first African American to receive the Navy Cross for valor

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ro-Miller.html

The US Navy is to name new aircraft carrier after a World War II hero

Mess Attendant 2nd Class Doris Miller was the first African American to receive
the Navy Cross for valor in 1942

The $13billion aircraft carrier will be the fourth of the new Gerald R.
Ford-class supercarriers, and is scheduled to launch in 2027, and enter service
in 2030

Miller manned a machine gun on the USS West Virginia and returning fire against
Japanese planes during the December 7 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor

Miller, then 22, was collecting laundry when the attack alarm sounded

His normal battle station was destroyed by a torpedo so he went on deck and
carried wounded soldiers to safety before manning a machine gun

At the time an African American was not allowed to man a gun in the Navy

The announcement is expected to be made at Pearl Harbor Monday, on Martin Luther
King Junior Day

Miller died on a ship that was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1943

The US Navy is expected to honor a World War II hero when a new aircraft carrier
is named for Mess Attendant 2nd Class Doris Miller.

The announcement is expected to be made at Pearl Harbor Monday, The Honolulu
Star-Advertiser reported Friday.

Miller was the first African American to receive the Navy Cross for valor.

Miller was recognized for manning a machine gun on the USS West Virginia and
returning fire against Japanese planes during the December 7 1941 attack on
Pearl Harbor.

USS Miller, a destroyer escort, was previously named in his honor.

'I think that Doris Miller is an American hero simply because of what he
represents as a young man going beyond the call of what´s expected,' said Doreen
Ravenscroft, a team leader for the Doris Miller Memorial.

An African American was not allowed to man a gun in the Navy in 1941,
Ravenscroft said.

'Without him really knowing, he actually was a part of the Civil Rights movement
because he changed the thinking in the Navy,' Ravenscroft said.

Two of Miller´s nieces are expected to be at Pearl Harbor for the announcement
on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The $13billion aircraft carrier will be the fourth of the new Gerald R.
Ford-class supercarriers, and is scheduled to launch in 2027, and enter service
in 2030.

The carriers are the largest world, and will eventually replace the existing
Nimitz-class.

Two of the class have already been built - the USS Gerald R. Ford and the USS
John F. Kennedy, while a third - the USS Enterprise - is under construction and
scheduled to be launched in 2025.

Naming the newest addition after a sailor is uncommon, with the more recent
carriers typically honoring former US presidents. Meanwhile, the Enterprise will
be the ninth US Navy ship to bear the name.

During the attack on Pearl Harbor Miller, then 22, was collecting laundry when
the alarm sounded.

His normal battle station in an antiaircraft battery magazine was destroyed by a
torpedo. He went on deck and carried wounded soldiers to safety before receiving
orders to aid the mortally wounded captain on the bridge.

'He subsequently manned a 50-cal. Browning anti-aircraft machine gun until he
ran out of ammunition and was ordered to abandon ship,' the Navy said, noting
Miller was not trained to operate the gun.

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet,
presented the Navy Cross to Miller in Pearl Harbor in May 1942.

Miller died while serving on a ship that was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine
in November 1943.




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