Doris Miller

Miller was born in Waco, Texas, on October 12, 1919, to Connery and Henrietta Miller. He was named Doris, as the midwife who assisted his mother was convinced before his birth that the baby would be a girl.{{cite web |url=http://www.texasescapes.com/AllThingsHistorical/Doris-Miller-African-American-Hero-of-WWII-AM405.htm |title=Doris Miller: Hero |first=Archie P. |last=McDonald |website=texasescapes.com |date=April 11, 2005 |access-date=February 7, 2018}} He was the third of four sons and helped around the house, cooked meals and did laundry, as well as worked on the family farm. He was a fullback on the football team at Waco's Alexander James Moore High School.{{cite web |url=http://www.wacohistory.org/items/show/98 |title=Doris Miller |first=Megan |last=Danner |website=wacohistory.org |access-date=February 7, 2018}} He began attending the eighth grade on January 25, 1937, at age 17; he repeated the grade the following year because of poor performance, so he decided to drop out of school.{{cite web |url=http://www.pearlharborattacked.com/cgi-bin/IKONBOARDNEW312a/ikonboard.cgi?act=Print;f=20;t=15 |title=Doris Miller and his Navy Cross: a brief biography |first=David |last=Aiken |work=Pearl Harbor Message Board |access-date=June 20, 2012 |archive-date=December 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209093049/http://www.pearlharborattacked.com/cgi-bin/IKONBOARDNEW312a/ikonboard.cgi?act=Print;f=20;t=15 |url-status=dead }} He filled his time squirrel hunting with a .22 rifle and completed a correspondence course in taxidermy. He applied to join the Civilian Conservation Corps but was not accepted. At that time, he was {{convert|6|ft|3|in}} tall and weighed more than {{convert|200|lb}}. Miller worked on his father's farm until shortly before his 20th birthday.

Miller's nickname "Dorie" may have originated from a typographical error. He was nominated for recognition for his actions on December 7, 1941, and the Pittsburgh Courier released a story on March 14, 1942, which gave his name as "Dorie Miller".{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7598695/ |title=Mess Attendant Turned Machine Gun on Japanese |newspaper=Pittsburgh Courier |date=March 14, 1942 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} Since then, some writers have suggested that it was a "nickname to shipmates and friends".

Miller enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a mess attendant third class at the Naval Recruiting Station in Dallas, Texas, for six years on September 16, 1939.{{Cite web |title=Transcript of Service |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/diversity/african-americans/miller/transcript-of-service.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505224355/https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/diversity/african-americans/miller/transcript-of-service.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 5, 2017 |access-date=January 15, 2018 |website=Naval History and Heritage Command}} Mess attendant was one of the few ratings open at the time to black sailors.{{cite web |url= http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/ngbeyond/people/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110115075330/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/ngbeyond/people/ |url-status= dead |archive-date= January 15, 2011 |title=Beyond the Movie: Pearl Harbor: Ship's Cook Third Class Doris "Dorie" Miller |work=National Geographic |year=2001 |access-date=August 17, 2015}} He was transferred to the Naval Training Center, Naval Operating Base, Norfolk, Virginia, arriving on September 19. After training school, he was assigned to the ammunition ship {{USS|Pyro|AE-1|2}} (AE-1) and then transferred on January 2, 1940, to the Colorado-class battleship West Virginia (BB-48). It was on West Virginia where he started competition boxing, becoming the ship's heavyweight champion. In July, he was on temporary duty aboard {{USS|Nevada|BB-36|2}} (BB-36) at Secondary Battery Gunnery School. He returned to West Virginia on August 3. He advanced in rating to mess attendant second class on February 16, 1941.

{{main|Attack on Pearl Harbor}}

File:"DECEMBER 7th - REMEMBER^" - NARA - 535613.jpg, Office of War Information and Public Relations)]]

Miller woke up at 6 a.m. on December 7, 1941, aboard West Virginia. He served breakfast mess and was collecting laundry at 7:57 a.m. when planes from the {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi}} fired the first of seven torpedoes that hit West Virginia. The "battle stations" alarm went off; Miller headed for his battle station, an anti-aircraft battery magazine amidships, only to discover that a torpedo had destroyed it.

He then went to "Times Square" on deck, a central spot aboard the ship where the fore-to-aft and port-to-starboard passageways crossed, reporting himself available for other duty and was assigned to help carry wounded sailors to places of greater safety. Lieutenant Commander Doir C. Johnson, the ship's communications officer, spotted Miller and saw his physical prowess, so he ordered him to accompany him to the conning tower on the flag bridge to assist in moving the ship's captain, Mervyn Bennion, who had a gaping wound in his abdomen where he had apparently been hit by shrapnel after the first Japanese attack.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usswestvirginia.org/stories/story.php?id=10|title=Biographical Sketch of Mervyn S. Bennion|website=www.usswestvirginia.org}} Miller and another sailor lifted the skipper but were unable to remove him from the bridge, so they carried him on a cot from his exposed position on the damaged bridge to a sheltered spot on the deck behind the conning tower where he remained during the second Japanese attack.{{cite web |url= http://lestweforget.hamptonu.edu/page.cfm?uuid=9FEC4F26-BB62-CA75-90EC77910DA1F9F3 |title=Dorie Miller |first=Bennie J. |last=McRae, Jr |work=Hampton University |access-date=June 20, 2012}} Captain Bennion refused to leave his post, questioned his officers and men about the condition of the ship, and gave orders and instructions to crew members to defend the ship and fight. Unable to go to the deck below because of smoke and flames, he was carried up a ladder to the navigation bridge, where he died from blood loss despite the aid from a pharmacist mate. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.{{cite web |url= https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/77290/veteranoftheday-navy-veteran-mervyn-bennion/ |title=#VeteranOfTheDay Navy Veteran Mervyn Bennion |website=US Department of Veterans Affairs |year=2020 |access-date=February 4, 2021}}

Lieutenant Frederic H. White had ordered Miller to help him and Ensign Victor Delano load the unmanned number 1 and number 2 Browning .50 caliber anti-aircraft machine guns aft of the conning tower. Miller was not familiar with the weapon, but White and Delano instructed him on how to operate it. Delano expected Miller to feed ammunition to one gun, but his attention was diverted and, when he looked again, Miller was firing one of the guns. White then loaded ammunition into both guns and assigned Miller the starboard gun.

Miller fired the gun until he ran out of ammunition, whereupon he was ordered by Lieutenant Claude V. Ricketts to help carry the captain up to the navigation bridge out of the thick oily smoke generated by the many fires on and around the ship; Miller was officially credited with downing at least two hostile planes. "I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us," he said later. Japanese aircraft eventually dropped two armor-piercing bombs through the deck of the battleship and launched five 18-inch (460 mm) torpedoes into her port side. When the attack finally lessened, Miller helped move injured sailors through oil and water to the quarterdeck, thereby "unquestionably saving the lives of a number of people who might otherwise have been lost".{{cite web |url= http://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/diversity/african-americans-in-the-navy/selected-biographies-photographs/doris-miller/uss-west-virginias-action-report.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150829222429/http://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/diversity/african-americans-in-the-navy/selected-biographies-photographs/doris-miller/uss-west-virginias-action-report.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= August 29, 2015 |title=USS West Virginia's Action Report |website=Naval History and Heritage Command |year=2015 |access-date=August 17, 2015}}

The ship was heavily damaged by bombs, torpedoes, and resulting explosions and fires, but the crew prevented her from capsizing by counter-flooding compartments. Instead, West Virginia sank to the harbor bottom in shallow water as her surviving crew abandoned ship, including Miller; the ship was later raised and restored for continued service in the war. On West Virginia, 132 men were killed and 52 were wounded from the Japanese attack. On December 13, Miller reported to the heavy cruiser {{USS|Indianapolis|CA-35|2}} (CA-35).

File:Nimitz and miller.jpg pins a Navy Cross on Mess Attendant Second Class Miller during a ceremony aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6) at Pearl Harbor, on May 27, 1942.]]

On January 1, 1942, the Navy released a list of commendations for actions on December 7. Among them was a single commendation for an unnamed black man. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had asked President Franklin D. Roosevelt to award the Distinguished Service Cross to the unknown black sailor. The Navy Board of Awards received a recommendation that the sailor be considered for recognition. On March 12, an Associated Press story named Miller as the sailor, citing the African-American newspaper Pittsburgh Courier;{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7598595/ |title=Negro Revealed as 'Messman Hero' at Pearl Harbor |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=March 12, 1942 |access-date=February 8, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} additional news reports credited Lawrence D. Reddick with learning the name through correspondence with the Navy Department, with these news reports becoming influential aspects in giving the Double V campaign greater legitimacy{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17257838/identify_heroic_mess_attendant_who/ |title=Identify Heroic Mess Attendant Who Manned Machine Gun Against Japs During Pearl Harbor Attack |newspaper=New York Age |date=March 14, 1942 |access-date=February 8, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} In the following days, Senator James M. Mead introduced a Senate bill [{{USBill|77|SR|2392}}] to award Miller the Medal of Honor,{{cite web |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1942-pt11/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1942-pt11-2.pdf#page=17&zoom=auto,-78,623 |title=History of Bills and Resolutions |page=563 |website=gpo.gov |access-date=February 8, 2018}} (left column) S. 2392 and Representative John Dingell Sr. introduced a matching House bill [{{USBill|77|HR|6800}}].{{cite web |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1942-pt11/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1942-pt11-2.pdf#page=70&zoom=auto,-16,170 |title=History of Bills and Resolutions |page=616 |website=gpo.gov |access-date=February 8, 2018}} (right column) H.R. 6800

Miller was recognized as one of the "first U.S. heroes of World War II". He was commended in a letter signed by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on April 1, and the next day CBS Radio broadcast an episode of the series They Live Forever, which dramatized Miller's actions. Black organizations began a campaign to honor Miller with additional recognition. On April 4, the Pittsburgh Courier urged readers to write to members of the congressional Naval Affairs Committee in support of awarding the Medal of Honor to Miller.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17268828/write_these_congressmen/ |title=Write These Congressmen |newspaper=Pittsburgh Courier |date=April 4, 1942 |access-date=February 8, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} The All-Southern Negro Youth Conference launched a signature campaign on April 17–19. On May 10, the National Negro Congress denounced Knox's recommendation against awarding Miller the Medal of Honor. On May 11 President Roosevelt approved the Navy Cross for Miller.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17269232/navy_decorates_negro_hero/ |title=Navy Decorates Negro Hero |agency=INS |newspaper=Salt Lake Telegram |date=May 11, 1942 |access-date=February 8, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}}

On May 27 Miller was personally recognized by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, aboard the aircraft carrier {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|2}} (CV-6) at anchor in Pearl Harbor.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17269473/negro_messboy_gets_navy_cross_at_pearl/ |title=Negro Messboy Gets Navy Cross at Pearl Harbor |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=May 28, 1942 |access-date=February 8, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} Nimitz presented Miller with the Navy Cross, at the time the third-highest Navy award for gallantry during combat, after the Medal of Honor and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal; on August 7, 1942, Congress revised the order of precedence, placing the Navy Cross above the Distinguished Service Medal in precedence. Nimitz said of Miller's commendation, "This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I'm sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts."

File:Blackhist2.jpg, January 7, 1943]]

Miller advanced in rating to mess attendant first class on June 1, 1942.{{cite news |last=Chamberlain |first=Gaius |url=http://www.greatblackheroes.com/government/doris-miller/ |title=Doris Miller |work=Great Black Heroes |publisher=Adscape International, LLC |date=January 25, 2012 |access-date=March 2, 2017 }} On June 27 the Pittsburgh Courier called for him to be allowed to return home for a war bond tour along with white war heroes.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17248673/courier_campaigns_for_return_of_dorie/ |title=Courier Campaigns for Return of Dorie |newspaper=Pittsburgh Courier |date=June 27, 1942 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} On July 25 the Pittsburgh Courier ran a photo of Miller with the caption "He Fought{{nbsp}}... Keeps Mop" next to a photo of a white survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack receiving an officer's commission.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17249167/he_fought_keeps_mop/ |title=He Fought{{nbsp}}... Keeps Mop |newspaper=Pittsburgh Courier |date=July 25, 1942 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} The photo caption stated that the Navy felt that Miller was "too important waiting tables in the Pacific" for him to return to the United States.

File:Above and beyond poster.jpg

On November 23 Miller returned to Pearl Harbor and was ordered on a war bond tour while still attached to Indianapolis. In December, and January 1943, he gave presentations in Oakland, California, in his hometown of Waco, in Dallas, and to the first graduating class of black sailors from Great Lakes Naval Training Station. He was featured on the 1943 Navy recruiting poster "above and beyond the call of duty", designed by David Stone Martin.{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/93505848/ |title=Above and beyond the call of duty – Dorie Miller received the Navy Cross at Pearl Harbor, May 27, 1942 |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=March 16, 2014}}

In February 1943 "mess attendant" was changed to the "steward's mate" rate title by the Navy.{{Cite web|url=https://uniform-reference.net/insignia/usn/usn_ww2_enl_steward.html|title=USN WW2 Enlisted Rates: Steward Branch|website=uniform-reference.net}} On May 15 Miller reported to Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton, Washington, assigned to the newly constructed escort carrier {{USS|Liscome Bay|CVE-56|2}} (CVE-56). He was advanced in rating to cook third class on June 1. The ship had a crew of 960 men, and its primary functions were to serve as a convoy escort, to provide aircraft for close air support during amphibious landing operations, and to ferry aircraft to naval bases and fleet carriers at sea.{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/uss-liscome-bay-hit-by-a-torpedo-near-makin-atoll-during-world-war-ii.htm|title=USS Liscome Bay: Hit By a Torpedo Near Makin Atoll During World War II|date=June 12, 2006|website=HistoryNet}} The Liscome Bay was the flagship for Carrier Division 24 which was under the command of Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinnix. On October 22, Liscome Bay set sail for Pearl Harbor.

After training in Hawaiian waters, Liscome Bay left Pearl Harbor on November 10, 1943, to join the Northern Task Force, Task Group 52. Miller's carrier took part in the Battle of Makin (invasion of Makin by units of the Army's 165th Regimental Combat Team, 27th Infantry Division) which had begun on November 20.{{cite journal |url=https://www.ebony.com/news/doris-miller-pearl-harbor/ |title=A Pearl Harbor Hero, Still Waiting for the Proper Recognition |first=Elizabeth |last=Aguirre |date=December 7, 2016 |access-date=January 13, 2019 |website=Ebony.com}} On November 24, the day after Makin was captured by American soldiers and the eve of Thanksgiving (the cooks had broken out the frozen turkeys from Pearl Harbor), Liscome Bay was cruising near Butaritari (Makin Atoll's main island) when it was struck just before dawn in the stern by a torpedo from the {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-175}} (which fired four torpedoes at Task Group 5312).{{cite web |url=https://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/history-up-close/sinking-uss-liscome-bay/ |title=The Sinking of USS Liscome Bay |date=November 24, 2014 |access-date=January 13, 2019 |work=National Naval Aviation Museum |archive-date=September 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905191057/https://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/history-up-close/sinking-uss-liscome-bay/ |url-status=dead }} The carrier's own torpedoes and aircraft bombs exploded, causing the ship to sink in 23 minutes. There were 272 survivors from the crew of over 900,{{cite news |url=https://www.wacotrib.com/news/city_of_waco/doris-miller-memorial-takes-shape-as-donation-gap-remains/article_21339228-9a86-5301-9668-4aa58a370562.html |title=Doris Miller Memorial takes shape as donation gap remains |access-date=January 13, 2019 |newspaper=Wacotrib.com |publisher=BH Media Group, Inc. |first=Mike |last=Copeland |date=October 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030184339/https://www.wacotrib.com/news/city_of_waco/doris-miller-memorial-takes-shape-as-donation-gap-remains/article_21339228-9a86-5301-9668-4aa58a370562.html |archive-date=October 30, 2018}} but Miller was among the two-thirds of the crew listed as "presumed dead".{{cite news |url=http://www.wacotrib.com:80/news/military/war-hero-civil-rights-hero-new-doris-miller-bio-widens/article_6377553d-fb43-57db-9a93-b3e526b468ef.html |title=War hero, civil rights hero: New Doris Miller bio widens view of Waco |date=January 1, 2018 |access-date=January 13, 2019 |newspaper=Wacotrib.com |first=J. B. |last=Smith |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111013331/http://www.wacotrib.com/news/military/war-hero-civil-rights-hero-new-doris-miller-bio-widens/article_6377553d-fb43-57db-9a93-b3e526b468ef.html |archive-date=January 11, 2018 |publisher=BH Media Group, Inc. |url-status=live }} His parents were informed that he was missing in action on December 7, 1943. Liscome Bay was the only ship lost in the Gilbert Islands operation.

A memorial service was held for Miller on April 30, 1944, at the Second Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, sponsored by the Victory Club. On May 28, a granite marker was dedicated at Moore High School in Waco to honor him. Miller was officially declared dead by the Navy on November 25, 1944, a year and a day after the loss of Liscome Bay. One of his brothers also served during World War II.

Miller's decorations and awards:

For distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. While at the side of his Captain on the bridge, Miller, despite enemy strafing and bombing and in the face of a serious fire, assisted in moving his Captain, who had been mortally wounded, to a place of greater safety, and later manned and operated a machine gun directed at enemy Japanese attacking aircraft until ordered to leave the bridge.{{cite web |url= https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/diversity/african-americans/miller/doris-millers-navy-cross-citation.html#:~:text=CITATION%3A%20%22For%20distinguished%20devotion%20to,forces%20on%20December%20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170505224338/https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/diversity/african-americans/miller/doris-millers-navy-cross-citation.html#:~:text=CITATION%3A%20%22For%20distinguished%20devotion%20to,forces%20on%20December%20 |url-status= dead |archive-date= May 5, 2017 |title=Doris Miller's Navy Cross Citation |website=Naval History and Heritage Command |year=2020 |access-date=February 1, 2021}}

File:Dorie Miller commemorative plaque.jpg

File:Dorie Miller Memorial - Corona NY - Memorial Day 2015.jpg

File:Doris Miller Auditorium Austin Texas.jpg

File:USS Miller (FF-1091).jpg

; Memorials

• Doris Miller Memorial, a public art installation on the banks of the Brazos River in Waco.{{cite web |url=http://www.dorismillermemorial.org |title=Doris Miller Memorial |website=dorismillermemorial.org |access-date=February 7, 2018}} A nine-foot bronze statue was unveiled on December 7, 2017.{{cite news |url=http://www.wacotrib.com/news/city_of_waco/crowd-welcomes-statue-of-pearl-harbor-hero-doris-miller/article_a914e0a6-1e77-543a-ba33-d65cb5157ab9.html |title=Pearl Harbor Hero |first=J. B. |last=Smith |newspaper=Waco Tribune-Herald |date=December 7, 2017 |access-date=February 7, 2018}}
• A bronze commemorative plaque at the Doris Miller Park housing community located near Naval Station Pearl Harbor; organized by the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and dedicated on October 12, 1991, which would have been Miller's 72nd birthday.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17245532/remembering_a_fallen_hero/ |title=Remembering a fallen hero |first=Karen |last=Douglas |newspaper=Lansing State Journal |location=Lansing, Michigan |date=October 29, 1991 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17245720/wwii_hero_honored_through_local_effort/ |title=WWII hero honored through local effort |first=Jacqueline |last=Sergeant |newspaper=Poughkeepsie Journal |location=Poughkeepsie, New York |date=October 11, 1991 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}}
• Plaque in the Memorial Courtyard at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas.{{cite web |url=http://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/your-visit/memorial-courtyard/ |title=Memorial Courtyard |website=pacificwarmuseum.org |access-date=February 7, 2018 |archive-date=February 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208182820/http://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/your-visit/memorial-courtyard/ |url-status=dead }}

; Schools

• Dorie Miller Intermediate School, Ennis, Texas{{cite web |url=https://www.ennis.k12.tx.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=13 |title=Dorie Miller Intermediate |website=ennis.k12.tx.us |access-date=February 7, 2018}}
• Doris Miller Elementary School, San Antonio, Texas (opened 1947){{cite web |url=https://schools.saisd.net/page/153.about |title=School History |website=saisd.net |access-date=February 7, 2018}}
• Doris Miller Elementary School, San Diego, California (dedicated April 28, 1976){{cite web |url=https://www.sandiegounified.org/schools/miller/about-our-school |title=About Our School |website=sandiegounified.org |access-date=February 7, 2018 |archive-date=February 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217171834/https://www.sandiegounified.org/schools/miller/about-our-school |url-status=dead }}
• Dorie Miller Elementary School, Waco, Texas (closed 2012){{cite web |url=https://www.publicschoolreview.com/doris-miller-elementary-school-profile |title=Doris Miller Elementary School |website=publicschoolreview.com |access-date=February 7, 2018}}
• Doris Miller Middle School, San Marcos, Texas{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Doris+Miller+Middle+School/@29.8586563,-97.9745089,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x865ca63aeda30771:0xa951be67bd572562!8m2!3d29.8586563!4d-97.9723202 |title=Doris Miller Middle School |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=Google Maps}}

; Community-related

• Bledsoe–Miller Community Center, recreation facility in Waco, Texas,{{cite web |url=http://www.waco-texas.com/cms-parksandrecreation/page.aspx?id=41 |title=Community Centers |website=waco-texas.com |access-date=February 7, 2018}} jointly named for Jules Bledsoe
• Dorie Miller Community Center, recreation facility in San Antonio, Texas{{cite web |url=http://www.sanantonio.gov/ParksAndRec/Parks-Facilities/All-Parks-Facilities/Parks-Facilities-Details/ArtMID/14820/ArticleID/2857/Dorie-Miller-Community-Center |title=Dorie Miller Community Center |website=sanantonio.gov |access-date=February 7, 2018}}
• Dorie Miller Drive, Champaign, Illinois{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dorie+Miller+Dr,+Champaign,+IL+61820/@40.128218,-88.2289652,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x880cd75e270407f5:0xe82e016c0b5c3a13!8m2!3d40.128218!4d-88.2267765 |title=Dorie Miller Dr |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=Google Maps}}
• Dorie Miller Homes, a housing community in Gary, Indiana{{cite web |url=http://www.garyhousing.org/developments.asp |title=GHA Properties |website=Gary Housing Authority |access-date=February 7, 2018 |archive-date=January 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122223740/http://www.garyhousing.org/developments.asp |url-status=dead }}
• Dorie Miller Houses, a housing cooperative complex built in 1953 in the Corona neighborhood of Queens, New York{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/real-estate/usa/ny/queens/corona/building/113-15-34th-avenue/13094 |title=Dorie Miller 113-15 34th Avenue |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 7, 2018}}
• Dorie Miller Park, Lewisburg, West Virginia{{cite news |url=https://mountainmessenger.com/phase-i-of-dorie-miller-park-near-completion/ |title=Phase I of Dorie Miller Park near completion |first=Peggy |last=MacKenzie |website=MountainMessenger.com |date=July 21, 2017 |access-date=February 7, 2018}}
• Doris Miller Auditorium, Rosewood Park, Austin, Texas{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Doris+Miller+Recreation+Center/@30.2710572,-97.7170673,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x8644b5c41f43f375:0x6971d42ec948091d!8m2!3d30.2710572!4d-97.7148786 |title=Doris Miller Recreation Center |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=Google Maps}}
• Doris Miller Community Center, Newport News, Virginia{{cite web |url=https://www.nngov.com/1209/Doris-Miller-Community-Center |title=Doris Miller Community Center |website=nngov.com |access-date=February 7, 2018 |archive-date=February 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208123539/https://www.nngov.com/1209/Doris-Miller-Community-Center |url-status=dead }}
• Doris Miller Family YMCA, Waco, Texas{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Doris+Miller+Family+YMCA/@31.571564,-97.1239137,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x864f82f6db4ece13:0x6983fc776cd65537!8m2!3d31.571564!4d-97.121725 |title=Doris Miller Family YMCA |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=Google Maps}}
• Doris Miller Loop, Honolulu, Hawaii,{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Doris+Miller+Loop,+Honolulu,+HI+96818/@21.338237,-157.9129723,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x7c006f073447081f:0xdf36210403695714!8m2!3d21.338237!4d-157.9107836 |title=Doris Miller Loop |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=Google Maps}} with a monument located at north end of street
• Doris Miller Memorial Park, a cemetery on the border of Waco and Bellmead, Texas{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Doris+Miller+Memorial+Park/@31.6045512,-97.0889729,3867m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x87ae2c0c990d5e1a!8m2!3d31.6102412!4d-97.067954 |title=Doris Miller Memorial Park |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=Google Maps}}
• Dorie Miller Recreation Center, San Antonio, Texas{{cite web |url=http://sanantonio.eventful.com/venues/dorie-miller-recreation-center-/V0-001-010157716-1 |title=Dorie Miller Recreation Center San Antonio |website=eventful.com |access-date=February 7, 2018}}

; Military-related

• {{USS|Miller|FF-1091}}, a destroyer escort (reclassified as a {{sclass|Knox|frigate}} on June 30, 1975){{cite web |url= https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/miller-de-ff-1091-i.html |title=USS Miller (DE/FF-1091) |website=Naval History and Heritage Command |year=2019 |access-date=February 2, 2021}} commissioned on June 30, 1973;{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17245284/navy_ship_is_named_for_black_war_hero/ |title=Navy Ship Is Named For Black War Hero |first=Leon |last=Pitt |newspaper=Detroit Free Press |date=July 4, 1973 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} decommissioned on October 15, 1991, was named after him.
• The Bachelor Enlisted Quarters at Naval Station Great Lakes was dedicated to Miller on December 7, 1971.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17243909/waco_war_hero_honored_tuesday/ |title=Waco War Hero Honored Tuesday |newspaper=The Waco Citizen |location=Waco, Texas |date=December 9, 1971 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}}
• Dorie Miller Galley, the main galley for Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti{{cite web |url=https://www.basedirectory.com/camp-lemonnier-directory/dorie-miller-galley |title=Dorie Miller Galley |website=basedirectory.com |access-date=February 7, 2018}}
• Doris Miller Dining Hall, Naval Air Station Chase Field, Beeville, Texas{{cite book |title=Doris Miller, Pearl Harbor, and the Birth of the Civil Rights Movement |first1=Thomas W. |last1=Cutrer |first2=T. Michael |last2=Parrish |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |date=2017 |isbn=978-1623496029 }}
• Doris Miller Park, a housing community for military personnel in Honolulu{{cite web |url=http://www.ohananavycommunities.com/neighborhood/doris-miller-park |title=Doris Miller Park |website=ohananavycommunities.com |access-date=February 7, 2018}}
• {{USS|Doris Miller|CVN-81}}, a future {{sclass|Gerald R. Ford|aircraft carrier}}, announced on January 19, 2020.{{cite news |url=https://news.usni.org/2020/01/18/next-ford-class-carrier-to-be-named-after-pearl-harbor-hero-doris-miller |title=Next Ford-class Carrier to be Named After Pearl Harbor Hero Doris Miller |first=Sam |last=LaGrone |website=USNI News |date=January 18, 2020 |access-date=January 18, 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/09/29/917816651/a-military-first-a-supercarrier-is-named-after-an-african-american-sailor |title=A Military 1st: A Supercarrier Is Named After An African American Sailor |publisher=NPR |date=September 29, 2020 |author=Jay Price |access-date= September 29, 2020}}{{Cite news|title=A Military 1st: A Supercarrier Is Named After An African American Sailor|language=en|work=NPR.org|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/09/29/917816651/a-military-first-a-supercarrier-is-named-after-an-african-american-sailor|access-date=January 30, 2022}} The ship is scheduled to be laid down in 2026 and launched in 2029.{{Cite web|url=https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=111881|title=Navy Will Name A Future Ford Class Aircraft Carrier After WWII Hero Doris Miller|last=Affairs|first=This story was written by Acting Secretary of the Navy Public|website=www.navy.mil|language=en|access-date=January 20, 2020|archive-date=January 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200121003641/https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=111881|url-status=dead}}

; Veteran-related

• Dorie Miller Chapter 14 – Disabled American Veterans chapter in Washington, D.C.{{cite web |url=http://www.davmembersportal.org/chapters/dc/14/default.aspx |title=Dorie Miller #14 |website=davmembersportal.org |access-date=February 7, 2018}}
• Dorie Miller Post 546 – American Legion post in Racine, Wisconsin{{cite news |url=http://journaltimes.com/news/local/local-legion-post-named-for-pearl-harbor-hero/article_3f3c6b1c-a4da-5f7d-965f-a3e664a28124.html |title=Local Legion post named for Pearl Harbor hero |first=Rob |last=Golub |newspaper=The Journal Times |location=Racine, Wisconsin |date=May 24, 2001 |access-date=February 9, 2018}}
• Dorie Miller Post 915 – American Legion post in Chicago{{cite web |url=http://www.doriemiller915.org/ |title=Dorie Miller Post #915 |website=doriemiller915.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203010102/http://www.doriemiller915.org/ |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |access-date=August 24, 2013 |url-status=live }}
• Dorie E. Miller Post 817 – American Legion post in Beaumont, Texas{{cite web |url=http://www.dorieemiller.org/ |title=Dorie E. Miller Post 817 |website=dorieemiller.org |access-date=February 7, 2018 |archive-date=June 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613184659/http://www.dorieemiller.org/ |url-status=dead }}
• Doris Miller Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Waco, Texas;{{cite web |url=https://www.centraltexas.va.gov/locations/Waco.asp |title=Doris Miller Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center |website=centraltexas.va.gov |access-date=February 7, 2018}}113th United States Congress {{USBill|113|HR|4199|site=yes}} includes monument and a road named Doris Miller Circle.{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Doris+Miller+Cir,+Waco,+TX+76711/@31.509902,-97.1655938,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x864f815b07de389b:0xbf4d3c4c31c58b1a!8m2!3d31.509902!4d-97.1634051 |title=Doris Miller Cir |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=Google Maps}}

; Radio

• In 1942, Miller's actions were dramatized on the CBS Radio series They Live Forever.{{cite web|url=http://go.si.edu/site/MessageViewer?em_id=8781.0&dlv_id=12641 |title=A Page From Our American Story: December 7, 1941 Heroes |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |date=2009 |access-date=August 17, 2015}}
• The April 25, 1944, episode of the CBS Radio series Columbia Presents Corwin, titled "Dorie Got a Medal", starred Canada Lee and Josh White in Norman Corwin's "jazz-and-jive opera" about Miller.{{cite web |url=http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=Columbia+Presents+Corwin |title=Columbia Presents Corwin |publisher=RadioGOLDINdex |access-date=March 16, 2014 |archive-date=March 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317032835/http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=Columbia+Presents+Corwin |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17287456/air_program_honors_dorie/ |title=Air Program Honors Dorie |newspaper=Pittsburgh Courier |date=April 29, 1944 |access-date=February 9, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}}
• On the December 9, 1945, broadcast of his ABC radio series Orson Welles Commentaries, Orson Welles presented a tribute to Doris Miller and spoke to his father, Connery Miller.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/OrsonWellesWartimeBroadcasts |title=Orson Welles Wartime Broadcasts |publisher=Internet Archive |access-date=March 15, 2014}} Broadcast from the U. S. Naval Training and Distribution Center on Treasure Island, San Francisco, the program announced the naming of three theater complexes to honor three World War II heroes killed in action. Theater One was named for Doris Miller; the other two theaters were named for Medal of Honor recipients John Basilone and Edward O'Hare.{{cite web |url=http://www.snyderstreasures.com/pages/welles.htm |title=Treasure Island Medal of Honor Dedication: Orson Welles ABC KGO Broadcast Script and Photograph Lot |publisher=Snyder's Treasure Trove: Collectible Militaria |access-date=March 16, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316183317/http://www.snyderstreasures.com/pages/welles.htm |archive-date=March 16, 2014 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17286914/welles_to_honor_ohare_on_kxok/ |title=Welles To Honor O'Hare on KXOK |newspaper=St. Louis Star-Times |date=December 8, 1945 |access-date=February 9, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}}

; Film & television

• Miller is portrayed by actor Elven Havard in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066473/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast |title=Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) – Full Cast & Crew |website=IMDb |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=YouTube}}
• Miller is portrayed by actor Cuba Gooding Jr. in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213149/?ref_=nv_sr_1 |title=Pearl Harbor (2001) |website=IMDb |access-date=February 7, 2018}}Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/AN9SP0y1lVA Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20150218003430/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN9SP0y1lVA Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN9SP0y1lVA |title=Pearl {{sic|Harbour|nolink=y}} – Cook takes A.A Gun |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}
• Miller being awarded the Navy Cross was depicted in the 2019 film Midway.
• Miller is played by Abdul Sulaiman in National Geographic’s “Erased: WWII Heroes of Colour” which focuses on him and fellow African American mess mates George Bland and Clark Simmons. https://ageofthegeek.org/2024/06/02/national-geographics-erased-wwii-heroes-of-colour-is-informative-but-dull/

; Other

File:US Navy 100204-N-1281L-048 The Distinguished Sailors commemorative stamps series is unveiled.jpg

• Founded in 1943, the Dorie Miller Foundation began giving an annual award in 1947 to an individual or group considered outstanding in the field of race relations.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17255132/zumwalt_to_receive_dorie_miller_award/ |title= Zumwalt to receive Dorie Miller award |newspaper=Pittsburgh Courier |date=September 22, 1972 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} Recipients included Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, and Eleanor Roosevelt.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17255282/rev_elmer_l_fowler_83/ |title=Rev. Elmer L. Fowler, 83 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=June 6, 2003 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} The award later became the American Heritage & Freedom Award.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17255709/black_navy_captain_is_honored/ |title=Black Navy captain is honored |first=John W. |last=Fountain |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=May 21, 1990 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}}
• The Gwendolyn Brooks poem Negro Hero (1945) is narrated from Miller's point of view.{{cite magazine |first=Gwendolyn |last=Brooks |magazine=Common Ground |title=Negro Hero (To suggest Doris Miller) |pages=44–45 |date=1945 }}
• In 2002, Molefi Kete Asante included Miller on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.{{cite book |last=Asante |first=Molefi Kete |author-link=Molefi Kete Asante |year=2002 |title=100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia |location=Amherst, New York |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=1573929638}}
• Miller was honored by the United States Postal Service as one of four Distinguished Sailors, with a 44-cent commemorative stamp issued on February 4, 2010.{{cite news |url=http://www.wacotrib.com/news/local-wwii-hero-doris-miller-being-honored-with-stamp/article_0a97d46f-046a-5db9-a11a-ad77413f9c2d.html |title=Local WWII hero Doris Miller being honored with stamp |first=Cindy V. |last=Culp |newspaper=Waco Tribune-Herald |date=February 4, 2010 |access-date=February 7, 2018}} Also honored were William Sims, Arleigh Burke, and John McCloy.
• Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson proposed bills in 2016, 2017, and 2020 that would have authorized the Medal of Honor for Miller. None of these bills were voted upon by the House of Representatives.114th United States Congress {{USBill|114|HR|6371|site=yes}}115th United States Congress {{USBill|115|HR|834|site=yes}}115th United States Congress {{USBill|115|HCR|19|site=yes}}116th United States Congress {{USBill|116|HR|5549|site=yes}}

• {{Portal inline|Biography}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |title=Doris Miller, Pearl Harbor, and the Birth of the Civil Rights Movement |first1=Thomas W. |last1=Cutrer |first2=T. Michael |last2=Parrish |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |date=2017 |isbn=978-1623496029 }}
• {{cite book |title=The Messman Chronicles: African Americans in the U.S. Navy, 1932–1943 |first=Richard E. |last=Miller |year=2004 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=155750539X }}
• {{cite book |title=Doris Miller: Hero of Pearl Harbor |first=Bill |last=O'Neal |author-link=Bill O'Neal |publisher=Eakin Press |location=Waco, Texas |date=2007 |isbn=978-1934645017 }}
• {{cite journal |last=Sapper |first=Neil |date=1980 |title=Aboard the Wrong Ship in the Right Books: Doris Miller and Historical Accuracy |url=https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1433&context=ethj |journal=East Texas Historical Journal |volume=18 |issue=1 |access-date=February 7, 2018}}

{{Commons category|Dorie Miller}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170505224407/https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/diversity/african-americans/miller/uss-west-virginias-action-report.html USS West Virginia Action Report], for December 7, 1941, via Naval History and Heritage Command
• [http://radioechoes.com/index.php?page=play_download&mode=play&dl_mp3folder=C&dl_file=columbia_workshop_1944-04-25_dorie_got_a_medal.mp3&dl_series=Columbia%20Workshop&dl_title=Dorie%20Got%20A%20Medal&dl_date=1944.04.25&dl_size=7.05%20MB "Dorie Got a Medal" (audio)] from April 25, 1944, via radioechoes.com
• [https://orsonwelles.indiana.edu/items/show/2129 "Orson Welles Commentaries" (audio)] from December 9, 1945, via indiana.edu
• [http://www.texasarchive.org/2011_02113?title=The_Texas_Experience_-_Tom_Landry_Presents_Dorie_Miller The Texas Experience – Tom Landry Presents Dorie Miller (video)], Texas Archive of the Moving Image
• [http://www.dorismillermemorial.org/ Doris Miller Memorial], Cultural Arts of Waco
• Part of his life is retold in the 1948 radio drama "[https://archive.org/details/Destination.Freedom/Destination_Freedom_48-12-05_023_Autobiography_of_a_Hero.mp3 Autobiography of a Hero]", a presentation from Destination Freedom, written by Richard Durham

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Doris}}

Category:1919 births

Category:1940s missing person cases

Category:1943 deaths

Category:African Americans in World War II

Category:African-American United States Navy personnel

Category:Attack on Pearl Harbor

Category:Military personnel from Waco, Texas

Category:Missing in action of World War II

Category:People lost at sea

Category:Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States)

Category:United States Navy personnel killed in World War II

Category:United States Navy sailors