A new aircraft carrier being built was supposed to be named after Doris Miller, a Black World War II sailor who was awarded the Navy Cross for shooting down at least one Japanese plane at Pearl Harbor. Miller worked in the mess hall aboard the battleship West Virginia during the attack on Dec. 7, 1941. He had had no previous training in anti-aircraft gunnery but was able to knock out the Japanese Zero. Witnesses said he shot down five other planes but was only credited with one. He was awarded the Navy Cross in 1942. He was nominated for the Medal of Honor but officials decided against it because he was Black.
He was killed in 1943 when his ship the escort carrier Liscome Bay was sunk by a Japanese torpedo in the western Pacific. Seven-hundred other American sailors died as well, making it the largest single loss of life in World War II.
Now the Trump administration wants the new carrier to be named after President Trump.
Trump never served in the military. He evaded the draft during the Vietnam War by getting a doctor to sign a letter noting a dubious and minor medical condition.
Navy hero Miller should be honored and remembered with an aircraft carrier named after him, in my opinion.
Trump already has many things named after him: buildings, golf courses, etc.
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This article originally published at Letter: Aircraft carrier should be named after heroic sailor, not Trump.