I have a couple of other articles in process, which will come out soon, but the reports that the Navy is either considering or committed to renaming CVN-81. The ship which will be laid down when USS Enterprise, CVN-80 is launched later this year. Miller, or CVN-81 was announced to be the first of the Gerald Ford Class carriers to have to endure a major disruption to its design because President Trump wants the new ships to be equipped with 1950’s era steam catapults and wants it “island” moved forward so the ship looks more like previous designs. Of course, it was moved further back to better support air operations on the ships, but that doesn’t matter to the narcissistic sociopath President who, like the worst despots in history wants his name put on everything. It wasn’t enough for him to name a class of nuclear powered battleships after him, so he and his sycophants in Pete Hegseth’s Defense Department to further pad his fragile ego to erase that of a true American hero.
Dorie Miller was a mess attendant aboard the USS West Virginia, BB-48 at Pearl Harbor. The ship was severely damaged and sinking to the bottom of the harbor. Her Captain, Mervyn Bennion, was mortally wounded and Miller was recruited to move Bennion to safety, even as Bennion continued to direct the defense of the ship until he passed away. Miller, who had recently received gunnery training took over a .50 caliber machine gun and was credited with downing two Japanese aircraft during the attack. He was awarded the Navy cross in January 1942 and it was presented by Admiral Chester Nimitz on the deck of the USS Enterprise, CV-6 just before the Battle of Midway. Nimitz said: "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."
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But then, Trump has despised African Americans his entire life using discrimination against Blacks in one of his apartment complexes, for which he lost a lawsuit, and taking out full page ads to try to poison public opinion against the so called “Central Park Five” who were all later exonerated because the were falsely accused of a sexual assault on a White woman. I could name many more instances of Trump’s abject racism and animus against Blacks, but you can do that yourself. If the Department of the Navy decides to do this under Trump’s sycophant Hung Cao, a failed candidate for the Senate in Virginia, who has major questions about his combat claims as a senior Navy EOD officer it will not only be a crime against Dorie Miller and all African Americans, especially those who served in combat.
Less than two years after Pearl Harbor Dorie Miller, promoted and serving aboard the Escort Carrier, USS Liscome Bay CVE-56 lost his life when the ship was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-175 on 24 November 1943 during the invasion of Makin Island, as Miller and his fellow Mess attendants and cooks prepared Thanksgiving dinner. The torpedo detonated in a bomb magazine. Only 272 of the 916 officers and sailors aboard survived. The dead included Miller, Rear Admiral Henry Millinnex, and the Commanding Officer, Captain Irving Wiltsie.
I hope that some voice of sanity in the GOP, in DOD, or in the White House itself will prevail and stop this from happening. Based on experience, I don’t expect that to happen, but I can hope.
I will be back with the other articles sooner than later. Until then. All the best, have a good night and better tomorrow. Also, please watch your six.
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