[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 1542-1543]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       DORIS MILLER--TEXAS SAILOR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, I have talked much on this House floor about 
our veterans, both those of today and those of the past. Tonight I 
mention another one of them.
  Doris Miller was born in Waco, Texas, on October 12, 1919. He was the 
youngest of three sons born to Henrietta and Connery Miller. He was a 
good kid. He enjoyed playing with his brothers and was always helping 
around the house, especially in the kitchen. In school, Miller was a 
good student. He was also a fullback on the football team at A.J. Moore 
High School in Waco, Texas. They called him the raging bull because of 
his size. He was 5 foot 9, but he weighed over 200 pounds.
  Growing up, Miller worked on his father's farm until he enlisted in 
the United States Navy at the age of 20 as a Mess Attendant, Third 
Class. He quickly advanced to Mess Attendant, Second Class and First 
Class, and subsequently he was promoted to Ship's Cook.
  After training at the Naval station at Norfolk, Virginia, he was 
assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro; and on January 2, 1940, 
Dorie, as his shipmates nicknamed him, was transferred to the 
battleship USS West Virginia. When he was not cooking he was boxing 
with his buddies, and he became the ship's heavyweight boxing champion. 
He was serving on the battleship West Virginia that December morning in 
1941 when the Japanese surprise attack took place.
  As the bright rising and violent sun came up on the morning of 
December 7, 1941, Dorie was already awake and collecting laundry when 
the battle stations alarm sounded throughout the ship. Pearl Harbor and 
Hawaii were under attack.
  He ran on deck to help his fellow wounded soldiers. In the midst of 
the chaos, an officer ordered him to aid the critically wounded captain 
of the ship. While struggling back to the bridge and then amid 
horrendous and heavy fire and bombs, Dorie came upon a machine gun 
whose gunner had already been killed. Dorie, rescuing his captain, made 
sure that he was protected and immediately began firing this machine 
gun at Japanese airplanes.

                              {time}  1945

  He continued firing until the crew was ordered to abandon the ship. 
Miller had never been trained to operate a machine gun, but he was 
credited with shooting down at least two Japanese planes, probably more 
than that. Later he said, ``I just pulled the trigger and she worked 
fine.''
  In the spring of 1943, Dorie Miller was assigned to the USS Liscome 
Bay, an aircraft carrier in the Pacific, and he was on board November 
24, 1943, when the aircraft carrier was sunk by a submarine; 646 
sailors were lost at sea, and Dorie was one of them.
  Before he died, Miller was honored for his brave acts at Pearl Harbor 
on December 7. He was awarded the second highest medal in the Navy, the 
Navy

[[Page 1543]]

Cross, for his extraordinary courage during that battle. It happened 
that Admiral Chester Nimitz, another Texan, presented the award to 
Miller personally. And he said of Miller, ``This marks the first time 
in this conflict in this war that such high tribute has been made in 
the Pacific fleet to a member of this race, and I am sure that the 
future will see others of this race similarly honored for these brave 
acts.''
  Admiral Nimitz mentioned Miller's race because he was black. The Navy 
had been integrated, but segregated responsibilities. So Miller, since 
he was black, he was assigned to being a cook on the ship. He was not 
required to be topside manning that .50-caliber machine gun on December 
7, but he was there. He voluntarily helped protect his ship and protect 
his captain. By the way, Mr. Speaker, in the movie ``Pearl Harbor,'' 
Cuba Gooding, Jr., portrayed Doris Miller in his actions on December 7.
  Mr. Speaker, every February our Nation celebrates Black History Month 
to recognize the contribution that African Americans have made to our 
country. This Black History Month, as we note accomplishments of 
African Americans, we take time to salute their military 
accomplishments as well. We honor the loyal duty of heroes like Doris 
Miller. He was an extraordinary American and a sailor. He received many 
awards for his bravery during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and he acted 
above and beyond the call of duty. He could have certainly qualified 
for the medal of honor for his courage. He was a man of valor, and 
Doris Miller is entitled to respect and gratitude of our country.
  There were many of the World War II Greatest Generation that gave 
their youth and their lives for our Nation. Mr. Speaker, over 400,000 
Americans, young men and young women, died in World War II protecting 
our Nation and the concept of freedom. Dorie Miller was one of those 
Americans. And that's just the way it is.

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