Bill Text: TX HCR45 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Urging Congress to bestow the Congressional Medal of Honor on Doris "Dorie" Miller for his heroism during World War II.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2017-05-29 - Signed by the Governor [HCR45 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HCR45-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Urging Congress to bestow the Congressional Medal of Honor on Doris "Dorie" Miller for his heroism during World War II.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2017-05-29 - Signed by the Governor [HCR45 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HCR45-Introduced.html
85R5804 JGH-D | ||
By: White | H.C.R. No. 45 |
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WHEREAS, During the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, | ||
1941, Petty Officer Doris Miller of the U.S. Navy demonstrated | ||
valor above and beyond the call of duty, and he is long past due for | ||
full recognition of his extraordinary courage and initiative on | ||
that day; and | ||
WHEREAS, A native of Texas, Doris "Dorie" Miller was born in | ||
Waco on October 12, 1919, to Henrietta and Conery Miller; he was a | ||
fullback on the football team at Moore High School in Waco, and he | ||
went on to work on his father's farm; and | ||
WHEREAS, In September 1939, Mr. Miller enlisted in the U.S. | ||
Navy as a way to see the world and earn money for his family; at that | ||
time, African Americans were only permitted to perform menial tasks | ||
in the Navy, so Mr. Miller was trained as a mess attendant at the | ||
Naval Training Station in Norfolk, Virginia; after a brief | ||
assignment on the ammunition ship USS Pyro, he was transferred in | ||
January 1940 to the battleship USS West Virginia, where he won | ||
distinction among the crew as the ship's heavyweight boxing | ||
champion; his rank at the time was mess attendant, second class; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Miller rose at 6 a.m. on the morning of December | ||
7, 1941, and he was collecting laundry when the Japanese attack | ||
began and the alarm for general quarters was sounded; even mess | ||
attendants had a battle station, but Mr. Miller's, an antiaircraft | ||
battery magazine, had already been destroyed by a torpedo, so he | ||
went up on deck where, as the ship began to sink, he hauled wounded | ||
shipmates through oil and water to safety on the quarterdeck; he was | ||
then ordered to the bridge, where he picked up the ship's mortally | ||
wounded captain and carried him to an aid station; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Miller then returned to the bridge, and on his | ||
own initiative, he began firing a .50-caliber Browning antiaircraft | ||
machine gun at the attacking Japanese planes; he had never trained | ||
on the weapon, but, as he reported later, "It wasn't hard, I just | ||
pulled the trigger and she worked fine"; with no concern for his own | ||
safety, he continued firing until the gun's ammunition ran out, | ||
possibly bringing down one of the enemy aircraft; in the meantime, | ||
the West Virginia had been hit by five enemy torpedoes, and | ||
Mr. Miller was finally forced to abandon ship with his surviving | ||
crewmates; and | ||
WHEREAS, In the aftermath of the attack, Mr. Miller was | ||
commended by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, and on May 27, 1942, | ||
he became the first African American to receive the Navy Cross, the | ||
service's second-highest honor, which was personally presented to | ||
him by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the commander of the Pacific | ||
Fleet; he went on to serve on the USS Indianapolis and then the USS | ||
Liscome Bay; that ship was sunk by a Japanese submarine on November | ||
24, 1943, and though his body was never recovered, Mr. Miller was | ||
eventually listed among the 646 sailors who died that day; at the | ||
time of his death, his rank was cook, third class; and | ||
WHEREAS, In the years since, Mr. Miller's actions have become | ||
an important part of the legacy of Pearl Harbor; during the war, a | ||
poster from the U.S. Office of War Information featured his image | ||
and urged African Americans to join the war effort, and in 1973, a | ||
Knox-class frigate was christened the USS Miller in his honor; in | ||
1991, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority dedicated a bronze plaque to him at | ||
the U.S. Naval Base in Pearl Harbor, and in 2001, he was portrayed | ||
by the actor Cuba Gooding Jr. in the blockbuster film, Pearl Harbor; | ||
more recently, his story has been featured prominently in the | ||
National Museum of African American History and Culture in | ||
Washington, D.C.; in addition to the Navy Cross, he was also | ||
entitled to the Purple Heart, the American Defense Service Medal, | ||
Fleet Clasp, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War | ||
II Victory Medal; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 1939, when the clouds of world war were gathering | ||
in Europe and Asia, Dorie Miller chose to enlist in a Navy that did | ||
not trust black men to serve in combat, and at a moment of direst | ||
need, he picked up a weapon he had never used before and fought back | ||
against a savage enemy, performing brilliantly and courageously | ||
under fire in defense of his ship, his crewmates, and his nation; | ||
his valiant service on that day, and afterwards, warrants the | ||
highest honor that can be bestowed upon a member of the armed forces | ||
of the United States; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby urge the United States Congress to bestow on Doris "Dorie" | ||
Miller the Congressional Medal of Honor; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward official copies | ||
of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the | ||
secretary of the Navy, to the speaker of the House of | ||
Representatives and the president of the Senate of the United | ||
States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to | ||
Congress with the request that this resolution be officially | ||
entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of | ||
the United States of America. |