Navy Mulls Stripping Black War Hero’s Name from Aircraft Carrier for Trump: Sources

The US Navy is considering stripping the USS Doris Miller aircraft carrier of its namesake, the late Black war hero, and potentially replacing it with a ship bearing President Donald Trump’s name. This decision has sparked outrage among those who know the story of Miller’s bravery during World War II.

Doris Miller’s actions on December 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor were nothing short of heroic. As a cook on the USS West Virginia, he showed extraordinary bravery and selflessness by helping to move his mortally wounded captain to safety before taking control of an anti-aircraft gun and shooting down at least one Japanese aircraft. His heroism that day was all the more remarkable given the racial segregation and biases prevalent in the military at the time.

The USS Doris Miller, named after Miller’s sacrifice, represented a milestone in the Navy’s efforts to acknowledge its own history of racism. It was meant to honor not just Miller’s individual bravery but also the long-overdue recognition of Black service members who had been overlooked for their contributions to American wars. Aircraft carriers are typically named for presidents, while Medal of Honor recipients like Miller are more commonly honored with smaller warships.

However, the proposed change would be a step backward and diminish the significance of Miller’s sacrifice. It would undermine the efforts to acknowledge the contributions of Black service members and erase a significant chapter in American history. The White House’s apparent interest in renaming the ship is also telling, particularly given Trump’s own comments on the matter.

At a February 2020 event, Trump suggested that he sees the Navy’s decision to name the carrier after Miller as an affront to his own ego. His desire to have a ship named after him would come at the expense of honoring a true American hero – a stark contrast to the values of selflessness and service that Miller embodied.

The implications of this decision go beyond just the naming of a single ship. It speaks to a broader pattern of disregard for historical context and cultural sensitivity in the Navy’s naming traditions. The US Navy must carefully consider the significance of its naming decisions, lest it sacrifice its own history in order to curry favor with the current administration.

The Navy’s deliberations on this matter are ongoing, but one thing is clear: renaming the USS Doris Miller or replacing it with a ship bearing Trump’s name would be an erasure of history itself.