[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 127 (Thursday, October 12, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1753]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR FOR DORIS MILLER

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 11, 2000

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
introduce legislation that would allow the awarding of a Congressional 
Medal of Honor to Doris Miller. This recognition is long overdue to a 
man who served his country with distinction and who performed valiantly 
during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
  Doris Miller, born and raised in Waco, Texas, enlisted with the Navy 
as a Mess Attendant in 1939 at the age of 20. This was one of the few 
positions available at the time to black sailors in the country's 
segregated military. Within four months, he was assigned to the 
battleship U.S.S. West Virginia, stationed at Pearl Harbor.
  On the fateful day of December 7, 1941, Doris Miller was collecting 
laundry when Japanese aircraft attacked. The ship's commanding officer, 
Captain Mervyn Bennion, had been hit in the stomach by shrapnel. Doris 
Miller dragged his captain to a place of greater safety. Then, without 
any prior training, Miller manned a machine gun on the ship's deck. He 
shot down at least two of the 29 Japanese planes that were lost by the 
attackers that day, and Miller may have hit up to four others.
  Doris Miller continued to serve his country in the Navy during World 
War II. However, in 1943, he and 654 shipmates were killed in the line 
of duty when the Japanese sank the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Liscome Bay 
near the Gilbert Islands.
  Unfortunately, like other African Americans who served in the 
military during World War II, Doris Miller's acts of valor have never 
been fully recognized, and some of the awards that were bestowed upon 
him were only given grudgingly. Initially, Doris Miller's actions were 
not publicized until three months after the Pearl Harbor attack. Then, 
he was only given a letter of citation by the Secretary of the Navy--
the lowest of awards for duty. Doris Miller was finally awarded the 
Navy Cross, but only after a public campaign by civil rights 
organizations brought about critical attention in the press. However, 
Doris Miller was not decorated with the nation's highest honor--the 
Congressional Medal of Honor. In fact, no African American who served 
in World War II received the Congressional Medal of Honor until seven 
Army veterans were given the award in 1997.
  The legislation that I introduce today would waive the time 
limitation specified in current law for the awarding of military 
decorations in order to allow the posthumous award of the Congressional 
Medal of Honor to Doris Miller for his heroic actions during World War 
II, so that a long-awaited honor may finally be bestowed upon this 
deserving individual.

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