Doris “Dorie” Miller, the grandson of former slaves, was a crewmen aboard the battleship USS West Virginia when the Japanese raided Pearl Harbor. Just 22 years old, Miller was a mess steward in the ship’s galley, as Navy regulations precluded African Americans from serving in gunnery, engineering, or other line departments.
In the opening minutes of the Japanese attack, Miller carried the ship’s wounded captain to safety, then manned a .50-caliber machine gun he had never fired before. Miller continued firing at the attacking Japanese until he ran out of ammunition, then went to the aid of other sailors on the sinking battleship. He was one of the last men to abandon the West Virginia, and later became the first African American awarded the Navy Cross for gallantry. Miller was killed two years later when the ship he was serving on was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.
