Awesome! Great American hero!

At the time some thought it was politically expedient to award a black sailor the Navy Cross....especially since there was no real verification of a Japanese plane being shot down .

And today it is obviously even more politically expedient since there were many Medal of Honor winners who did far more .

Probably should have been a MOH. Different day but perhaps this could be corrected.

Any way, he must be remembered and celebrated.

witchmo said:

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Probably should have been a MOH. Different day but perhaps this could be corrected.

Any way, he must be remembered and celebrated.

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Please tell me why it should be upgraded to a MOH ?

There was no verification what so ever that the mess attendant ( who had no training at all with a heavy machine gun ) shot down a single plane .

Now if you want to give him a Medal of Honor for being the ship's heavyweight boxing champ and helping some of the wounded....at least that much is true .

Canada2017 said:

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At the time some thought it was politically expedient to award a black sailor the Navy Cross....especially since there was no real verification of a Japanese plane being shot down .

And today it is obviously even more politically expedient since there were many Medal of Honor winners who did far more .

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A hell of a lot of high-ranking officers dishonered their duty by letting Pearl Harbor happen.

So I'm fine with focusing honor on a man who did the best thing he could, as soon as he saw the threat.

Oldbear83 said:

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Canada2017 said:

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At the time some thought it was politically expedient to award a black sailor the Navy Cross....especially since there was no real verification of a Japanese plane being shot down .

And today it is obviously even more politically expedient since there were many Medal of Honor winners who did far more .

---

A hell of a lot of high-ranking officers dishonered their duty by letting Pearl Harbor happen.

So I'm fine with focusing honor on a man who did the best thing he could, as soon as he saw the threat.

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Then award a Navy Cross to about 2,000,000 other sailors who did the best they could.

It was a political ploy then....and it's a political ploy now .

Outstanding!

Canada2017 said:

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witchmo said:

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Probably should have been a MOH. Different day but perhaps this could be corrected.

Any way, he must be remembered and celebrated.

---

Please tell me why it should be upgraded to a MOH ?

There was no verification what so ever that the mess attendant ( who had no training at all with a heavy machine gun ) shot down a single plane .

Now if you want to give him a Medal of Honor for being the ship's heavyweight boxing champ and helping some of the wounded....at least that much is true .

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That's a big reason why he was a hero.

https://pearlharbor.org/heroes-harbor-doris-miller/

JXL said:

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Canada2017 said:

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witchmo said:

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Probably should have been a MOH. Different day but perhaps this could be corrected.

Any way, he must be remembered and celebrated.

---

Please tell me why it should be upgraded to a MOH ?

There was no verification what so ever that the mess attendant ( who had no training at all with a heavy machine gun ) shot down a single plane .

Now if you want to give him a Medal of Honor for being the ship's heavyweight boxing champ and helping some of the wounded....at least that much is true .

---

That's a big reason why he was a hero.

https://pearlharbor.org/heroes-harbor-doris-miller/

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Based on his criteria about 500 Navy Crosses should have been awarded that day at Pearl Harbor .

Navy brass new they were going to need black sailors with the vast mobilization required in wartime ....and they needed a symbol .

And that's fine....a clever social/publicity move .

But to name a super carrier as a continuation of what was basically a publicity stunt ?

Rubbish

Canada2017 said:

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JXL said:

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Canada2017 said:

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witchmo said:

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Probably should have been a MOH. Different day but perhaps this could be corrected.

Any way, he must be remembered and celebrated.

---

Please tell me why it should be upgraded to a MOH ?

There was no verification what so ever that the mess attendant ( who had no training at all with a heavy machine gun ) shot down a single plane .

Now if you want to give him a Medal of Honor for being the ship's heavyweight boxing champ and helping some of the wounded....at least that much is true .

---

That's a big reason why he was a hero.

https://pearlharbor.org/heroes-harbor-doris-miller/

---

Based on his criteria about 500 Navy Crosses should have been awarded that day at Pearl Harbor .

Navy brass new they were going to need black sailors with the vast mobilization required in wartime ....and they needed a symbol .

And that's fine....a clever social/publicity move .

But to name a super carrier as a continuation of what was basically a publicity stunt ?

Rubbish

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Publicity stunt?
What a stunt they pulled off when a jap torpedo sunk his ship and he went down with it 2 years later

My granddad served in the Pacific also.
How about this for a publicity stunt. Black troops who had just fought for this country had to ride the Jim Crow car on the way back home

robby44 said:

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Canada2017 said:

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JXL said:

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Canada2017 said:

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witchmo said:

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Probably should have been a MOH. Different day but perhaps this could be corrected.

Any way, he must be remembered and celebrated.

---

Please tell me why it should be upgraded to a MOH ?

There was no verification what so ever that the mess attendant ( who had no training at all with a heavy machine gun ) shot down a single plane .

Now if you want to give him a Medal of Honor for being the ship's heavyweight boxing champ and helping some of the wounded....at least that much is true .

---

That's a big reason why he was a hero.

https://pearlharbor.org/heroes-harbor-doris-miller/

---

Based on his criteria about 500 Navy Crosses should have been awarded that day at Pearl Harbor .

Navy brass new they were going to need black sailors with the vast mobilization required in wartime ....and they needed a symbol .

And that's fine....a clever social/publicity move .

But to name a super carrier as a continuation of what was basically a publicity stunt ?

Rubbish

---

Publicity stunt?
What a stunt they pulled off when a jap torpedo sunk his ship and he went down with it 2 years later

My granddad served in the Pacific also.
How about this for a publicity stunt. Black troops who had just fought for this country had to ride the Jim Crow car on the way back home

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My dad was on the USS Selfridge December 7th 1941...at Pear Harbor . He was 18 years old on the fantail of the ship when all hell broke loose .

In combat constantly since he was single and 'regular navy'...not a reserve .

Hundreds of other men died on that carrier with Doris when the magazine blew up . Tens of thousands died at sea during the course of the war.



The record of black troops and sailors in WW2 ....overall....was mixed. Especially in Italy and the West Coast .

Of course these days one is supposed to ignore this and focus on the Tuskegee Airmen.

Doris got his Navy Cross...in part ...to help stimulate black enlistment in the Navy. Because up until the war began the US Navy heavily discriminated against black Americans....as did the Marines .

On the other hand the most decorated regiment in US Army history was made up of Japanese Americans ...the 442 infantry regiment. They also had an incredibly high causality rate.

Some of the soldiers families were still in internment camps while these boys were fighting and dying.

corncob pipe said:

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Be glad they didn't name it The USS Barack Hussein Obama

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They are saving that name for the day when carriers are rudderless and have basketball goals on both ends of the flight deck.

Always good to see people connected to Waco get recognition and honor. How many other folks from Waco have a carrier named after them?