Navy Mulls Stripping Black War Hero’s Name from Carrier
Cyberzenhub.com – The Navy mulls stripping Black war hero Doris Miller’s name from a brand-new Ford-class supercarrier and replacing it with the name of President Donald Trump. Three people familiar with internal deliberations confirmed that the question has dominated senior-level conversations through the summer. The proposal would mark the first time in American naval history that a sitting president’s name is placed on a warship while he still holds office, and it would erase the legacy of an enlisted sailor who fired on Japanese aircraft during the Pearl Harbor attack.
The vessel, still under construction at a Virginia shipyard, was christened the USS Doris Miller on January 20, 2020 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — at a ceremony held at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly posed for photographs alongside Miller’s family members during the unveiling. The ship had received its designation during Trump’s first term.
The Sailor Behind the Designation
Doris “Dorie” Miller enlisted in September 1939 as a Mess Attendant, one of the lowest ratings available to Black sailors in a still-segregated service. When Japanese aircraft struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, he was aboard the battleship USS West Virginia serving as a cook. After the ship took repeated hits and caught fire, Miller helped carry his mortally wounded captain to a safer location. He then seized an anti-aircraft machine gun on the bridge — a weapon he had never been formally trained on — and opened fire on incoming planes.
Miller was credited with downing at least one enemy aircraft during an attack in which roughly 350 Japanese planes struck the harbor and only about 29 were shot down overall. For his actions he received the Navy Cross, the second-highest combat decoration in the service, ranking behind only the Medal of Honor. At a time when Black service members were routinely overlooked or under-credited, the award carried particular weight.
“Miller, despite enemy strafing and bombing and in the face of a serious fire, assisted in moving his captain, who had been mortally wounded, to a place of greater safety, and later manned and operated a machine gun directed at enemy Japanese attacking aircraft until ordered to leave the bridge.”
That language comes from his official award citation. Miller’s story ended tragically less than two years later. In November 1943, during the Battle of Makin in the Pacific, a Japanese submarine torpedoed the USS Liscome Bay, killing approximately 700 sailors. Miller was among the dead.
A Naming Convention Broken
The carrier was set to become the first aircraft carrier named for a Black American and the first to honor an enlisted service member. It would also have been the second Navy vessel to carry his name: a destroyer bearing the Miller designation entered active service in 1972 and was decommissioned in 1991.
If the renaming proceeds, it would shatter a long-standing convention. Aircraft carriers have traditionally carried presidential names — Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Reagan, Lincoln, Ford, Washington, Nimitz, Roosevelt, and others — but always after the president had left office or passed away. Placing a sitting president’s name on a ship would break that practice entirely.
One source familiar with the discussions noted that the department is exploring the possibility of honoring Miller with a different vessel, preserving his name in the fleet while freeing the carrier’s designation. The specifics of that alternative have not been made public.
Medal of Honor Push Gains Momentum
Separately from the naming question, Miller is under strong consideration to have his Navy Cross upgraded to the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for combat valor. One of the three sources indicated that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently transmitted a memorandum to Congress recommending the upgrade. If approved, the action would formally recognize Miller’s actions at the highest level of military decoration — a step discussed for decades by veterans’ groups and historians who argue the Navy Cross understated what he accomplished under fire.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why would renaming the carrier be considered unprecedented?
Every presidential-named carrier in Navy history — from the USS George Washington to the USS Harry S. Truman — received its designation after the president left office or died. Naming a vessel for a president while he still commands the armed forces would have no parallel in the service’s more-than-two-century tradition.
What happened to Doris Miller’s name if the carrier is renamed?
Sources indicate the department is weighing assigning Miller’s name to a different ship so his legacy remains in the fleet. No final decision or timeline has been announced.
What is the status of the Medal of Honor recommendation?
A memorandum recommending the upgrade from Navy Cross to Medal of Honor has been transmitted to Congress. The matter now awaits legislative action; no vote has been scheduled as of the latest reporting.
