Dorie Miller is known as the first American hero of World War II. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it was Miller, a messman on the USS Arizona, who took charge. Due to the segregated nature of navy training, Miller had no previous shooting practice, but that didn’t stop him from rising from the ship’s galley during the attack, taking charge of an antiaircraft gun, and shooting down four Japanese planes before the ship sunk.
Despite his heroism, Miller was awarded the Navy Cross but not the right to train as a gunner. Miller died later in World War II while serving as a messman on the Liscome Bay, an aircraft carrier that was also attacked by the Japanese military.
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Great write up. I am interested in a link or source for the information on Regie. His Date of birth or other info would be appreciated.(Copy of Citation) Mike
i assume you mean Dorie? Reggie Miller was a forward, i believe, for the Indiana Pacers.
To be honest, i don’t remember which book or books i pulled this information from, but a quick search on Dorie Miller pulls up several sites. He was born in Waco, TX on October 12, 1919. That info came from http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq57-4.htm. Here are a couple more links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Miller
http://www.dorismiller.com/
My mistake, I did google and found what I was looking for Thanks for the correction.