Pearl Harbor Hero: How One Mess Attendant’s Courage Saved Lives

Published: December 5, 2024

Pearl Harbor Hero: How One Mess Attendant’s Courage Saved Lives

By Movieguide® Contributor

Saturday marks the 83rd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

“Two waves of 353 fighter planes hit military installments,” said Chuck Norris. “The first was at Pacific Naval Air Base, destroying or crippling 36 seaplanes and taking the lives or maiming 84 Americans. Seven minutes later, the Japanese hit Pearl Harbor, where 96 U.S. warships were anchored. All eight battleships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were sunk or badly damaged, including the U.S.S. Arizona.”

That Sunday marked a terrible day in American history: “2,300 Americans were killed; 1,102 were aboard the USS Arizona alone.”

Though the tragedy rocked the nation and launched America’s involvement in World War II, the heroic actions of that day still inspire us.

Norris was impacted by the story of Doris “Dorie” Miller, a Mess Attendant who grew up in Waco, Texas.

“He had to drop out of school to help support his family, working as a cook to supplement the family income during the Great Depression,” the National Museum of the Pacific War reported. “In 1939, just before his 20th birthday, he enlisted in the United States Navy, and after training in Norfolk, Virginia, Miller became a Mess Attendant, one of the few positions open to African Americans in the Navy. He was assigned to the USS West Virginia, which soon left to join the rest of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in response to increasing Japanese aggression.”

Clark Simmons, another mess attendant, explained, “You have to understand that when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president in 1932, he opened up the Navy again to blacks, but in one area only; they were called mess attendants, stewards, and cooks. The Navy was structured so that if you were black, this was what they had you do – you only could be a servant.”

On that Sunday in December, “Mess Attendant Third Class Doris Miller was retrieving laundry when the Japanese bombs fell on Pearl Harbor,” the outlet continued. “He arrived on deck, where he encountered his mortally wounded commanding officer and carried him to safety.”

His next action saved his life and the lives of his fellow sailors.

“He proceeded to one of the machine guns and although black sailors never received training on the anti-aircraft guns, he opened fire on the Japanese planes overhead. After the gun ran out of ammunition, Miller assisted in evacuating sailors after the order to abandon ship and was one of the last three men to leave the vessel as it sank. Even after leaving the ship, he helped numerous sailors to safety.”

Lieutenant Junior Grade Frederic H. White reported that Miller, “didn’t know very much about the machine gun, but I told him what to do and he went ahead and did it. He had a good eye.”

“It wasn’t hard,” Millar said of operating the machine gun. “I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about 15 minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us.”

He did in fact down two Japanese planes and, by “the grace of God,” escaped without a “scratch.” Despite his lack of training, his actions earned him the Navy Cross for bravery in the line of fire, the first black American to receive the honor.

“In addition to the Navy Cross, Miller would also be honored with the Purple Heart Medal (posthumously); the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal,” Norris wrote.

Miller died on Nov. 24, 1943, when his ship was torpedoed off the coast of the Gilbert Islands. His heroism is a reminder to “again salute all our American veterans, living and deceased, for preserving our republic through their service and sacrifice,” Norris expressed.