U.S. Navy named its newest aircraft carrier USS Doris Miller (CVN 81).
USS Doris Miller (CVN 81) will be the first aircraft carrier named for an enlisted Sailor and the first named for an African American.
A new @USNavy aircraft carrier will be named in honor of Petty Officer 2nd Class Doris Miller. It will be the first carrier named for an African-American or an enlisted sailor. @SECNAV made the announcement during the @JBPHH #MLK ceremony, Monday. #KnowYourMil pic.twitter.com/egFjFbLJYr
— DATSD Melanie Fonder Kaye (@DoD_Outreach) January 22, 2020
Most supercarriers are named for U.S. presidents — the USS John F. Kennedy. USS Ronald Reagan. USS Abraham Lincoln. Henry Kissinger called them “100,000 tons of diplomacy,” and that power has long been reflected in the Navy’s conventions for naming them.
Doris Miller, who went by “Dorie” in the Navy, was one of the first American heroes of World War II. He saved the lives of his USS West Virginia (BB 48) shipmates and then valiantly fought attacking Japanese forces during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.
During the attack and as his battleship, the USS West Virginia, was sinking, he helped move his dying captain to better cover, then jumped behind an anti-aircraft gun and shot at Japanese planes until his ammunition was gone.
For his bravery, he was awarded the Navy Cross—the first African American to receive this honor.
The U.S. Navy plans to name an aircraft carrier after Doris Miller, the first black sailor to receive a Navy Cross for his bravery during Pearl Harborhttps://t.co/NA13gv2pZX
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 18, 2020
Almost two years after his valor at Pearl Harbor, Miller loss his life when the ship he was assigned was sunk during battle.
For more information: https://www.npr.org/2020/09/29/917816651/a-military-first-a-supercarrier-is-named-after-an-african-american-sailor
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