Hell yes! The USS Doris Miller, CVN-81 will soon set sail.

[11 Bravo]

Doris Miller was an African-American cook aboard the battleship West Virginia on December 7, 1941.
When his ship was crippled during the Japanese attack, he left the kitchen and manned an 50 caliber anti-aircraft gun. For "distinguished devotion to duty and extraordinary courage with disregard for his own personal safety", Mess Attendant 2nd class Miller was awarded the Navy Cross.

Sadly for him, he remained black.

Because even after his heroism in battle, he was returned to kitchen duties and eventually assigned to the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay.

On November 24, 1943, the Liscome Bay was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during the Battle of Makin and sank. Mess Attendant Miller, and hundreds of his fellow sailors were lost at sea. (This particularly resonates with me because at the exact same time, my dad was just a few miles away, strapped into the cockpit of his F-6 F Hellcat.)

But now, at long last, a United States ship-of-war ... a nuclear powered Gerald Ford class aircraft carrier, no less ... will take to the seas bearing his name.

While Ronald Reagan (who already had a carrier named for him) was busy making movies, Mess Attendant Miller was giving the last full measure of devotion in defense of a country which wouldn't even acknowledge him as deserving of the same rights as every other citizen.

I say it's about fucking time.

[lastlib]

1. K & R!

I would say rename the USS Reagan with a name worthy of it, and reserve that name for garbage scows or other nasty hulks.

[sdfernando]

2. You bet it is! /nt

[sl8]

3. Well, they still need to build it.

Last edited Tue Jan 28, 2020, 09:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Planned launch is in 2028, commissioning in 2030.

Also, this is the second ship named after Miller. The first was the USS Miller (FF-1091).

Other than that, I echo your sentiments.

[rsdsharp]

4. Perhaps a minor point, but he was actually on the bridge at the time of the attack.

The text of his Navy Cross citation:

"For distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. While at the side of his Captain on the bridge, Miller, despite enemy strafing and bombing and in the face of a serious fire, assisted in moving his Captain, who had been mortally wounded, to a place of greater safety, and later manned and operated a machine gun directed at enemy Japanese attacking aircraft until ordered to leave the bridge."