🇺🇲WWII uncovered: ⚓82nd Anniversary of Pearl Harbor: Doris Miller Hero of the USS West Virginia.

  🇺🇲WWII uncovered: ⚓82nd Anniversary of Pearl Harbor: Doris Miller Hero of the USS West Virginia.

"On the morning of December 7, 1941, Miller, who was a Mess Attendant Second Class at the time, was collecting laundry on the battleship USS West Virginia when it was torpedoed by the Japanese. Miller was soon ordered to the bridge to aid the wounded. 

Miller commandeered a .50-caliber Browning antiaircraft machine gun, firing at planes until his ammunition ran out, even though he had not been formally trained on this equipment. 

To further contest to Miller's courage and valor he remained on the USS West Virginia when all were ordered to evacuate. 

He was one of the last three men to leave the vessel. Doris Miller was awarded the Navy Cross for his bravery during the Attack of Pearl Harbor." - Naval History and Heritage Command.

According to Naval History and Heritage Command, Miller once described firing the machine gun: “It wasn't hard. I just pulled the trigger, and she worked fine,” he said. “I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about 15 minutes.”

Pictured in the feature photo: Admiral Nimitz, USN, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, pins the Navy Cross on Doris Miller, Steward's Mate USN of Waco Texas at a ceremony in Pearl Harbor, on May 27, 1942.

On November 24, 1943 Doris Miller perished along with more than 645 other men aboard the USS Liscome Bay when it was hit by a torpedo and sank off Butaritari Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. He was 24 years old at the time of his passing.

On June 30, 1973, the US Navy commissioned the USS Miller (FF 1091) in his honor. Also, in early 2020 a Ford-class aircraft carrier, USS Doris Miller, (CVN 81) was also announced in dedication of the Hero of Pearl Harbor.

Doris Miller is memorialized at the Courts of the Missing, Court 1 Honolulu Memorial National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Honolulu, Hawaii. Lest We Forget.