Memorial Day Tribute
For Dorie Miller and every American soldier who gave their all in service to our country
Hello, Friend,
While the current administration revels in costly military parades, flag waving, lip service to veterans, and other performative measures, they’re quietly erasing the significant contributions of people of color and women from our military records. This is the stuff of fascism: rewriting history, othering, disappearing people, faux piety and patriotism, goose stepping parades, and threatening free discourse and the right to dissent, all designed to shift narratives and corrupt thoughts.
Today I’m sharing one story, the story of Dorie Miller, the first black man to win a Navy Cross.
Doris ‘Dorie’ Miller was a mess attendant (one of the only military occupational specialties then open to a Black man) on the battleship USS West Virginia. Named Doris as a baby after the midwife mistakenly believed he was going to be a girl, ‘Dorie’ Miller was an unexpected hero. He rose to the occasion during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and, in doing so, saved countless lives. Recognized as one of the first heroes of WWII he was nominated for a Medal of Honor, which was denied him and many other heroic black men who served in the war by the Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox and later by President Harry Truman. Initially identified only as an ‘unnamed black man’, Dorie Miller became the first black man to be awarded the Navy Cross by Admiral Chester Nimitz.
On the fateful morning of the Pearl Harbor Attack, unable to reach his assigned battle station, Dorie risked his life carrying wounded fellow sailors to safety. After helping an officer load ammunition, lacking any training in gunnery, he stepped behind an unmanned anti-aircraft gun and downed at least two enemy planes, perhaps up to six of them. He continued firing until he ran out of ammunition, then returned to aiding his fellow sailors while the ship was sinking.
This is what it means to be a hero, to step up when the situation calls, to risk everything in service to others, and to fight the good fight because it is the right thing to do. In November of 1943, after being promoted to Cook Petty Officer, Third Class, Dorie died along with 701 American officers and sailors, when a Japanese submarine torpedoed their ship. On June 30, 1973, the navy commissioned the USS Miller in his honor.
When the American military fought in WWII, they were fighting the toxic tide of fascism that was sweeping across Europe. Being anti-fascist was a point of honor and pride, as I believe it still is. On Memorial Day, the unofficial start of the summer season in America, we often forget that this day isn’t about mattress sales or cookouts or pretend patriotism. Regardless of the hateful rhetoric tapped into a keyboard by the current president (a man who may have avoided the draft with pretend bone spurs) this is a solemn day of remembrance for those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
We cannot allow history to be erased. We cannot allow this new toxic tide of fascism sweeping across our country to turn us into something twisted and terrifying, hateful and cruel, shameful and ugly. We cannot allow the sacrifices of those who came before us to be in vain. It is up to each of us to step up, risk our security in service to others, and fight the good fight because it is the right thing to do. Now, more than ever, we must find within ourselves the resolve to honor their memories by fighting fascism, speaking truth to power, and refusing to go gentle into that good night.
To those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and to their families, we extend our deepest gratitude. We are the land of the free because of the brave, and we must all be brave if we wish to remain free.
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He is destroying our history, our whole way of life. The black population has helped shape our world. Their contributions to the United States need to be recognized not erased!!! I thank them and all service men and women who served and still serve today, because of them this is the land of the free, home of the brave. Cheeto needs to be gone
God bless him and all who fight against tyranny.