ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 9, 1996 TAG: 9612090112
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII
SOURCE: Associated Press
Doris ``Dorie'' Miller became the first black sailor to be awarded the Navy Cross because he disobeyed orders during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Ordered to save himself from the blazing USS West Virginia on Dec. 7, 1941, the mess attendant instead ignored bullets from attacking dive-bombers and torpedo planes to carry his wounded commander to safety.
Then, in violation of orders prohibiting blacks from firing weapons, Miller used an anti-aircraft battery to fire at the planes.
It was one of several stories recited Saturday by Adm. Archie Clemins, the Pacific Fleet commander, during an hour-long service at the USS Arizona Memorial on the 55th anniversary of the Japanese attack that ushered the United States into World War II.
``Through his name, we are reminded that heroism and valor transcend racial and ethnic bounds and that, as Americans, our strength lies in our ability to help one another in time of need,'' Clemins said.
Miller, of Waco, Texas, was awarded the Navy's highest honor personally by Adm. Chester W. Nimitz after the attack. Two years later, Miller was dead, lost at sea when the USS Liscome Bay was torpedoed off the Gilbert Islands. A new Navy housing area here bears his name.
Several hundred military officials, survivors of the attack and members of veterans organizations gathered on the stark white memorial, which lies over the sunken Arizona.
Flowers were dropped onto the harbor's choppy water. Gusty winds forced the cancellation of a traditional flyover by Hawaii Air National Guard planes.
The attack sank 21 Navy ships, destroyed 185 military planes and killed 2,290 military personnel at bases throughout Hawaii, along with 48 civilians. Japan lost 29 planes and five midget submarines.
The greatest toll was on the Arizona, where 1,177 crewmembers were killed. Ten survivors of the attack have been interred in the Arizona since 1988, joining about 900 crew members entombed in the sunken hulk.
In Boston, the Navy Commendation Medal was awarded to John Handley Jr., 83, on Saturday for leading 10 to 12 men aboard the USS Wasp to safety after it was bombed off the coast of Japan in 1945. Eighty-seven men were killed and 200 wounded.
``What it boils down to is the fact that I'm a lucky guy,'' Handley said. ``I'm still around and I hope that some of the guys who were trapped and got out are still around, too.''
LENGTH: Medium: 51 linesby CNB