U.S.S. Doris Miller Act of 2026

This Act may be cited as the U.S.S. Doris Miller Act of 2026.

(a) Sense of Congress. It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the Navy should name an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy the Doris Miller in honor of Mess Attendant Third Class Doris Dorie Miller, for the acts of valor described in subsection (b) and in line with the Navy’s 2020 announcement to name a future Ford class aircraft carrier after Doris Miller.

(b) Acts of valor described. The acts of valor described in this subsection are the actions of Doris Dorie Miller, as a member of the United States Navy, as follows:

(1) Following Dorie Miller’s birth to Connery and Henrietta Miller, sharecroppers in Waco, Texas, he enlisted in the United States Navy in 1939, as a Mess Attendant, one of the few positions open to African Americans in the Navy.

(2) On December 7, 1941, Miller was serving aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia in Pearl Harbor when Japan attacked. He moved the wounded captain of U.S.S. West Virginia to safety, and then despite lacking proper training, he took control of an anti-aircraft gun and brought down attacking Japanese aircraft. Even as the ship began to sink, he only abandoned his position when he ran out of ammunition.

(3) 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.

(4) In March of 1942, Representative John Dingell, Sr. introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to award to Dorie Miller the Medal of Honor, the Nation’s highest military decoration.

(5) In May of 1942, Miller was presented with the Navy Cross by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, making Miller the first Black sailor to receive such an honor.

(6) Miller’s image was used for Navy recruitment posters, and he was recalled to the United States for a war bonds tour before returning to active service in the Pacific on a new carrier, the U.S.S. Liscome Bay.

(7) On November 24, 1943, Miller was killed in action when his carrier was hit by a torpedo during the Gilbert Islands Campaign.