On May 27, 1942, Dorie Miller became the first African-American to earn the Navy Cross (it should have been the Medal of Honor, but the Navy was racist) for his bravery during the Pearl Harbor attack.
Dorie (born Doris) Miller was an African-American who enlisted in the Navy in September, 1939. At the time, the Navy only allowed blacks to serve in the kitchen. He started as a mess attendant and was promoted to cook. He became the battleship West Virginia’s heavyweight boxing champ. On Dec. 7, 1941, he was gathering officers’ laundry when the attack on Pearl Harbor began. He helped move the wounded captain and then helped with other wounded men. Seeing an unmanned anti-aircraft gun, he took control and took aim. Although he had never fired that kind of weapon, he managed to shoot down at least one Japanese plane before the West Virginia settled to the bottom of the harbor. He swung over by rope to the USS Tennessee. He was awarded the Navy Cross (he was the first African-American to receive the award) by Admiral Nimitz and was sent on a war bond tour in the U.S. In November, 1943, he was manning an anti-aircraft gun on the escort carrier Liscome Bay when it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. He went down with the ship. Amazing 301-302
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