Roy Exum
Several weeks ago, as I was chasing down the story of Matthew Charles and what a terrible travesty it is that he’s been sent back to prison, I ran across the story of another black man who has been slighted by our nation. This first on Matthew: He served 20 years of a 30-year sentence until 2016, when he was pardoned by the Obama administration and has led an exemplary life since in every way. But a casual check found out he had a prior arrest before he got caught selling drugs and – by law – that makes him a ‘career criminal’ and – tragically -- ineligible for parole.
In what has been called "a legal evil," the courts had no recourse but to return Charles to prison. Of course, hundreds of thousands have been drawn to the story and it is expected that President Trump will hear our voice. Matthew is being held in a Kentucky prison before he will be taken to a prison in South Carolina. Yet, do not worry. This one we can fix.
The case of "The Negro Mess Boy" is different. It has languished in Congress for the last four years and it is an equally compelling tale. On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Doris Miller had just finished serving breakfast on the USS West Virginia and was gathering laundry when the first of nine Japanese torpedoes sliced into the side of the ship.
Pearl Harbor was under attack and, as "Man Your Battle Stations" sounded, Doris raced to his ammo magazine to dole out supplies. A torpedo beat him to it – it was gone – so the strapping 6'1", 200-pounder from Texas raced to "Times Square." (On a battleship, there is one main hallway going from ‘forward to aft.’ It is intersected by another main hall going from starboard (the right side) to port (the left side.) That’s ‘Times Square’ and where Miller yelled at no one, ‘Reporting for duty, sir!’
Doris, so named because the midwife who delivered him was sure the new baby was a girl, was quite popular with the officers and everyone knew he had recently won the ship’s boxing competition. Lt. Fred White and Ensign Victor Delano immediately ordered ‘Dorie,’ his ship nickname, to follow them up to the con.
There they found the ship’s captain, Mervyn Bennion, with a horribly mangled abdominal wound from shrapnel. Dorie plucked up the ship’s commander effortlessly and, once they secured Bennon out of harm’s way, the officers took Miller to the two .50-cal machine guns beyond the con tower.
Up until now, the only way a black could serve in the Navy was by doing some menial task. As White showed Miller how to load and cock the gun, he turned his attention to the second gun. Miller, who had never fired such a weapon, leveled down on the Jap airplanes in a relentless way. Until he ran out of ammo, Dorie had knocked four from the sky.
Then the strapping figure raced below decks to either carry or guide his all-white shipmates to safety. Some weeks later the Department of the Navy issued a commendation list of those who had distinguished themselves at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 and among those on the list was "An unnamed negro." His name was Doris Miller on the USS West Virginia.
In the 2001 movie "Pearl Harbor," starring Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett, the actor Cuba Gooding seemed to do a marvelous job depicting Miller’s heroics with the .50 caliber but no, he most certainly did not; no amount of cinematic brilliance, orchestra music, or deep bass tones could ever capture what Dorie Miller went through that day. No one can envision what this 20-year-old high school dropout from Waco, Texas, ever saw. His bravery, this negro mess boy’s unmitigated devotion to duty, was unparalleled in the War of the Pacific.
When the commendation board convened, it was learned the "unnamed negro" was Dorie Miller but because he was considered of such little significance – and a negro – he was denied the Medal of Honor and designated a Navy Cross - at the time the third highest award for valor in the Navy. Yes, he was regarded as the greatest of heroes by any and all, but he was a bus boy – mops and dirty dishes – not to mention his race.
In May of 1942, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise in Pearl Harbor, called Dorie from the ranks atop the carrier and presented Miller with his Navy Cross. The citation read:
"For distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. While at the side of his Captain on the bridge, 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."
Nimitz added, "This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I'm sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts."
Well, the pure and simple of it is that because a negro mess boy was beneath the culture and the dignity and the character of the all-white recipients, he was accorded "third place" in the halls of infamy. No, that is blatantly wrong, and Dorie Miller deserves our loftiest tier.
Dorie was sent to Great Lakes, and then was assigned to the ship, Liscome Bay. On November 24, 1943, the ship was struck in the stern by a torpedo from the Japanese submarine I-175. The aircraft bomb magazine detonated a few moments later, causing the ship to sink in 23 minutes.
This from Wikipedia: "There were 272 survivors from the crew of over 900, but Miller was not among them. Along with two-thirds of the crew, he was listed as ‘presumed dead.’ On December 7, 1943, exactly two years after Miller's heroic actions at Pearl Harbor, his parents were informed that their son was missing in action.
"A memorial service was held on April 30, 1944, at the Second Baptist Church in Waco, sponsored by the Victory Club. On May 28, a granite marker was dedicated at Moore High School in Waco to honor Miller. On November 25, 1944—a year and a day after the loss of Liscome Bay—Miller was officially presumed dead."
Dorie Miller richly deserves to be the first black man to earn our Medal of Honor but, mind you, his race has absolutely nothing to do with this nation’s love, indebtedness, and gratitude.
royexum@aol.com
Dorie Miller