Black community leaders on Friday, Aug. 21, slammed U.S. Navy officials over their reported move to name an upcoming aircraft carrier after President Donald Trump instead of WWII hero Doris Miller.
Miller was a Black enlisted soldier in the U.S. Navy. During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 he helped carry wounded sailors to safety and manned an anti-aircraft gun to take down at least one Japanese plane despite not being trained on the weapon.
"This is a slap in the face to every war hero and to every service member who has worn the uniform," Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, said in a statement posted to X about the reported name change. "It’s beyond comprehension for a president to want his own name on a Navy ship while our
armed forces are living in deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln."
Supporters for decades have viewed his actions as deserving of the Medal of Honor and attribute his not receiving the honor to racism. Miller was instead awarded the Navy Cross medal.
The Navy since 2020 has been planning to honor Miller by naming the fourth vessel in the new Gerald R. Ford-class carriers after the Waco, Texas, native. But according to reporting by CNN and NBC News, the Navy is looking at changing the name of the vessel from the USS Doris Miller to potentially the USS Donald Trump. Miller died in a Japanese torpedo attack in 1943.
The White House referred questions to the Pentagon. U.S. Navy and Pentagon officials declined to comment.
CVN-81, as the carrier is now called, is expected to be finished by 2034 but the Navy is expected to finalize its name ahead of a ship’s keel-laying ceremony at the end of 2026. The carrier, if it is named after Miller as planned earlier, would be the first to be named after an African American.
Miller’s family could not be immediately reached for comment.
Push to honor Black hero
The Navy’s decision in 2020 during the first Trump administration to name the upcoming carrier after Miller followed a decades-long push to award Miller the Medal of Honor for his actions.
World War II-era Democratic members of Congress Rep. John Dingell Sr. of Michigan and U.S. Sen. James Mead of New York both moved in the 1940s to award Miller the Medal of Honor but their efforts were turned down by then-Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, who has continued her father-in-law’s efforts to award Miller the commendation, on Friday also criticized the reported name change.
"Doris Miller represented courage, sacrifice, and the essential role African Americans have played in defending this country," the Michigan Democrat said in a statement. "Naming this carrier after him is more than honoring one extraordinary sailor — it recognizes that African Americans are an essential part of American history."
According to CNN, the Navy plans to name another warship after Miller and is recommending him for the Medal of Honor, the highest decoration for military valor. NBC reported that the White House has not approved the commendation for Miller.
One other ship bears Miller's name: the USS Miller (FF-1091), a Knox-class frigate.
Navy announces carrier to be named after Miller in 2020
The Navy first announced they would name the upcoming carrier after Miller on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2020 during the first Trump administration.
Navy Acting Secretary Thomas B. Modly said at that time the USS Doris Miller would serve as a reminder of the nation's pursuit of justice and as a tribute to its namesake.
"Doris Miller was the son of a sharecropper and a descendant of slaves," Modly said at the ceremony at Pearl Harbor. "He was not given the same opportunities that men of a different color were given to serve this country. But on Dec. 7, 1941, he would not be defined by the prejudice of other people."
Miller was a ship's cook at the time, Modly said, and showed initiative, professionalism and commitment during the attack.
Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump also noted Miller’s heroics on the day of the nation’s worst attack until 9/11.
"Doris Miller manned an anti-aircraft gun at Pearl Harbor with no training, saved lives, and helped defend this country when his country didn't fully claim him," Crump said. "Now the Navy wants to erase his name from the carrier built in his honor — and reportedly replace it with Donald Trump's. That is not how we treat heroes."
Along with the Navy Cross, Miller was awarded the Purple Heart; the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Slap in the face': NAACP rips Trump over aircraft carrier name
