forza orsi said:
osogreen said:
CNN is reporting the Navy is reconsidering naming CVN-81 for Waco war hero Doris Miller.
The Navy may rename another ship for Miller and name the Ford-class carrier for someone else.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/20/politics/navy-weighs-renaming-carrier-black-war-hero-to-trump
There's some irony here. I know they're trying to eliminate recognition of military personnel that got their positions due to DEI, but Doris Miller was the ultimate non-DEI hire. He enlisted in the navy and worked as a mess attendant because it was one of the only jobs that blacks could get, and was in that role two years. When the attack started he was carrying laundry. Then he began carrying wounded and bodies as ordered. Then when he saw an unmanned machine gun, he took over and manned the gun, shooting down two Japanese planes. Once he ran out of ammunition he carried the wounded ship's captain out to safety. Two years later, he died when his ship was torpedoed. He seems like an odd choice to remove as a naming honoree.
Agree...many roll backs on DEI and "woke" style initiatives in the military were drastically needed.
This is not one of them....
Its a good thing to get away from naming ships after commanders and presidents....and start naming them after the rank & file men who do the fighting and dying.
The Doris Miller name should stay....and he is soon to be advanced to Medal of Honor status
PS
He only died on that ship later in the war because he turn down several chances to be a full time war bond recruiter for the Pentagon...wanting to stay active military on ship in the Pacific theatre
In fact they had to order him to go on some of those war bond recruiting drives
[On November 23 Miller returned to Pearl Harbor
and was ordered on a war bond tour while still attached to Indianapolis. In December, and January 1943,
he gave presentations in Oakland California, in
his hometown of Waco, in Dallas, and to the first graduating class of black sailors from
Great Lakes Naval Training Station. He was featured on the 1943 Navy recruiting poster "above and beyond the call of duty"
A memorial service was held for Miller on April 30, 1944, at the Second Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, sponsored by the Victory Club. On May 28, a granite marker was dedicated at Moore High School in Waco to honor him.
Miller was officially declared dead by the Navy on November 25, 1944, a year and a day after the loss of Liscome Bay. One of his brothers also served during World War II]
