Today, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the US Navy officially named the newest of the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, not after a president, a senator, an admiral or a historic battlefield. Instead, they named the carrier after Doris “Dorie” Miller, an African-American Navy Messman, who during the attack on Pearl Harbor, helped save the lives of his shipmates and valiantly fought attacking Japanese forces. For his bravery, Miller was awarded the Navy Cross — the first African-American to receive this honor. Almost two years after his valor at Pearl Harbor, Miller was killed when his ship, an escort carrier, was sunk in battle.

USS Doris Miller (CVN 81) will be the first aircraft carrier named for an enlisted Sailor and the first named for an African American. The carrier is scheduled to be laid down in 2023, launched in 2028, and commissioned in 2030.

Miller, the grandson of slaves and the son of sharecroppers, enlisted in the Navy in 1939 and was trained to be a messman and cook, one of few ratings available to an African-American the time. Miller was a Mess Attendant Second Class on the battleship West Virginia when the Japanese attacked on December 7th, 1941. Under enemy fire, he helped carry wounded shipmates, including the mortally wounded ship’s captain, to shelter. He then took control of a 50 caliber anti-aircraft machine gun and began firing at Japanese planes. Miller had no combat training and had never fired a machine gun before. Nevertheless, he kept up firing until he ran out of ammunition. After the attack diminished, Miller helped pull wounded sailors in the water into lifeboats before he and the rest of the crew were ordered to abandon the sinking ship.

Aircraft carrier to be named after Pearl Harbor hero