 |
 |
 |
When 20 year old Doris 'Dorie' Miller enlisted in the Navy, there were few positions available to African-American sailors who served in the then-segregated military. Miller, a native of Waco, Texas, and a Naval mess attendant, was collecting laundry on the USS West Virginia, when it was attacked by Japanese aircraft.
Upon seeing his captain lying in a pool of blood, after being hit in the stomach with shrapnel, Miller dragged him to safety & began to man a machine gun with no prior training. Eye-witness accounts of the battle state that, Miller single-handedly shot down as many as four of the 29 Japanese planes.
Miller continued in the Navy during WWII, but in 1943, he and 654 shipmates were killed in the line of duty when the Japanese sank the USS Liscome Bay, an aircraft carrier on Gilbert Islands.
Millers' acts of valor have never been fully recognized or rewarded, and the few awards bestowed upon him were given grudgingly following public campaigns by civil rights organizations. It was not even until 1997 that seven other African-Americans, who served in WWII, received the prestigious Medals of Honor.
Due to Miller's significant acts of heroism - which include his attempt to not only save the life of his captain (the only naval personnel from the USS West Virginia to receive the Medal), but also the lives of others aboard the ship - Doris Miller deserves the Congressional Medal of Honor.
It is our goal to collect one million signatures in an attempt to encourage legislators to posthumously award Doris Miller, the first African-American naval personnel, this prestigious and greatly deserved honor. |
 |
|
(fields marked with * are required)
|
|
|
For more information about Doris Miller and his courageous acts, visit the Naval Historical Center website - www.history.navy.mil
|
LINK Lillian Tynes Perry is a member of The San Bernardino Valley Chapter of The Links, Inc., an international service organiztion comprised of more than 10,000 members, who are joining forces with Congresswoman Eddie Johnson (13th Congressional District, Texas) and other state & federal legislators in an effort to gain national recognition for WWII hero Dorie "Doris" Miller. A bill - H.R. 4445 - was introduced on May 20, 2004 by Congresswoman Johnson, to forward this objective.
LINK Lillian Perry is sponsoring this petition, and can be contacted at www.philperry.net. |
|
|
The views expressed in this petition are solely those of the petition's
sponsor and do not in any way reflect the views of iPetitions.
iPetitions is solely a provider of technical services to the petition
sponsor and cannot be held liable for any damages or injury or other
harm arising from this petition. In the event no adequate sponsor is
named, iPetitions will consider the individual account holder with which
the petition was created as the lawful sponsor.
|
|
|
