Finding Dorie.....An American Hero!

No.
Not Dory.

Doris "Dorie" Miller, was a 6'3" 200-pound Navy Cook who had about as much in common with a Blue Tang fish as he did with most other people named Doris.

'Dorie', the name is often but apocryphally connected to a newspaper typo, was named Doris in part because the midwife who assisted his mother was convinced before his birth that the baby would be a girl.
Since he was the third (of four) boys...his mom was probably just hoping for a daughter.

Not many people kidded him more than once about his name.

Miller started as a fullback in his high school's football team, in Texas, while in the 8th grade(!)
He was 16 at the time.
He dropped out of high school and eventually enlisted in the US Navy in 1939 as a Messman (cook, now called Culinary Specialist) one of few the ratings then opened to black enlisted members.
Because of Miller's size, and boxing ability, he would be selected specifically to serve in USS West Virginia (BB48,) a then, MUCH coveted battleship assignment.
West Virginia was stationed, and moored in Pearl harbor, on Dec 7, 1941.

If you don't know who Miller was, force yourself to watch the 2001 movie, "Pearl Harbor."
One of the few things that they sorta got right was Miller's actions on that morning.
He did attend to the mortally wounded skipper, and he did man and fire a .50-cal machine gun after receiving some hasty instructions from a LT handling an adjacent gun.
This was a non-trivial thing, since many of the Japanese planes were shooting up the open decks of the ships that they were attacking to (unsuccessfully) suppress anti-aircraft fire.
All pilots are taught to target the ship's bridge or conning tower on a BB, while strafing, which is where West Virginia's captain was mortally wounded.
Even if Dorie didn't shoot down a plane, he absolutely exposed himself to concentrated enemy fire, twice, and he contributed directly to efforts that caused the enemy NOT to launch a third wave of aircraft to attack Pearl Harbor - thus (in part) causing the attack to fail spectacularly at its intended mission.

Dorie would (most deservedly) receive a Navy Cross from fellow Texan ADM Chester Nimitz - for whom the Nimitz class of modern aircraft carriers is named.
It would be the first time this medal, America's second highest, would be awarded to a black sailor.
5 Incredible Navy Cross Recipients | Military.com

Dorie was transferred to the USS Indianapolis (later lost in action) and ultimately to the USS Liscome Bay CVE-56 a Casablanca-class escort carrier. Tragically, Liscome Bay was also lost in action killing Miller, along with most of her crew.

NEVER EVER re-name a warship!
It's just....bad luck.

Now?
The pay-off.

ALSO serving in light carriers during WW-II was a gentlemen named Gerald R Ford, who would later serve as the 40th POTUS, and for whom the newest class of US aircraft carrier is named.

The fourth Gerald Ford carrier, presently being built, will be named.....USS Doris Miller, CVN-81, the second warship named for Dorie, and the very first aircraft carrier ever named for any enlisted sailor!

Happy 4th of July!

 

Dorie's last ship, USS Liscome Bay, was originally going to be a UK ship and renamed before she was launched IIRC.
Liscome Bay was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the stern, detonating a magazine which caused her to go down in minutes - killing over two thirds of her crew - including the skipper, a rear-admiral, a pair of brothers (Hollister) and Dorie.

The Japanese had probably the second (maybe third) best submarine service in the world at the time, and undisputedly THE BEST torpedoes.....but unlike the US, they failed to use them strategically.

USS Liscome Bay was one of 50 Casablanca-class ("jeep") escort carriers, the most numerous type ever built.
They were designated "CVE" by the USN, which was understood by their crews to stand for....combustible, vulnerable, and expendable.
Five hulls (10%) would be lost in action against the enemy.
One of them (St. Lo, CVE-63) was commissioned as USS Midway, but was later renamed (for a second time!) for political considerations.
Re-naming a ship is bad ju-ju.
Renaming a warship after commissioning and without the proper ceremony was just too much for those who rule the depths.

St Lo would be the first major US warship to be lost in action from a kamikaze attack.

Another CVE (Gambier Bay) was sunk in action despite not undergoing the humility of a name change during the Battle off Samar...probably a future "American Hero" post that will feature a gentleman named CDR Earnest E. Evans who, like some US Senators, and our own @bwilson4web was/is a proud Oakie!
Evans was also of nearly unpolluted, pure (although mixed) Native American ancestry AND a Canoe-U alumni - something of a rarity in the 1940's.

This battle was alluded-to during the movie, and book "The Hunt For Red October" when Capt First Rank Marco Ramius said (incorrectly! )"Your conclusions were all wrong, Ryan...Halsey acted stupidly."

There's also a tie-in to Tennyson's poem......

Correct as always!

 

^ UNfortunately the last time 2 times I disgraced my pitiful species by trespassing upon Neptune's realm (the IDL and THE line....) I was aboard a NOAA ship and a US Navy ship, respectfully.
Both are supposed to be hooch-free, thanks to the efforts of a non-gentleman named Josephus Daniels.
An unabashed white supremist, aviation devotee, and “teetotaler”, his General Order 99 banned alky aboard all USN ships (except, ironically, "aviation rations!)
After General Order 99 went into effect, it was said that the strongest drink served aboard any USN ship was..............."a cup of Joe..."


During Whiskey-Whiskey-Deuce (see what I did there? ) my antecedents also added submarines to the very short list of ships that were issued official hooch in the form of 'depth-charge' medicine...kept in a special locker and passed out by the Pharmacist Mate (Universally called "Pills or, more often "Doc") when the call to 'splice the mainbrace' was passed.

Needless to say, his Royal majesty, and the royal court were not pleased by our hooch-free appearance in his realm on either occasion and we were made to suffer some interesting punishments as a result.