page_title: Doris Miller
section_title: World War II service
hierarchical_section_title: Doris Miller / Career / World War II service
caption_attribution_description: English: Dorie Miller speaking with sailors and a civilian at the Naval Training Station in Great Lakes, Illinois, January 7 1943.
context_page_description: Doris "Dorie" Miller was an American sailor in the United States Navy. He manned anti-aircraft guns during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, for which he had no training, and tended to the wounded. He was recognized by the Navy for his actions and awarded the Navy Cross.
  He was the first black American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the second highest decoration for valor awarded by the Navy, after the Medal of Honor. Miller's acts were heavily publicized in the black press, making him an iconic emblem of the war for black Americans. Nearly two years after Pearl Harbor, he was killed in action when his ship Liscome Bay was sunk by a Japanese submarine during the Battle of Makin.
  The Knox-class frigate USS Miller, in service from 1973 to 1991, was named after Doris Miller. On January 19, 2020, the Navy announced that CVN-81 would be named after him, a Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier scheduled to be laid down in 2023 and launched in 2028.
context_section_description: Miller was advanced to Mess Attendant First Class on June 1, 1942. 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. On July 25, the Pittsburgh Courier ran a photo of Miller with the caption "He Fought... Keeps Mop" next to a photo of a white survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack receiving an officer's commission. 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.
  On November 23, 1942, Miller returned to Pearl Harbor and was ordered on a war bond tour while still attached to Indianapolis. In December 1942 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 then reported to Puget Sound Navy Yard on May 15, 1943, and was advanced to Cook First Class on June 1 when he reported to the escort carrier Liscome Bay. He was featured on the 1943 Navy recruiting poster "Above and beyond the call of duty", designed by David Stone Martin.
caption: Miller speaking with sailors and a civilian at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, January 7, 1943
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