By Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson
While I was growing up in Waco, Texas, Doris Miller, who was known as “Dorie,” was a local hero. Residents of the town were proud of him and the contributions that he made to the nation during World War II as he risked his life aboard a naval vessel that was being attacked by Japanese piloted war planes on December 7th, 1941 in Pearl Harbor.
Mr. Miller, who attended A.J. Moore High School, worked on his family’s farm before he enlisted in the Navy when he was twenty years old. He received his training in Norfolk, Virginia and was assigned to the battleship West Virginia where he eventually became chief cook.
My father, Edward Johnson, was a personal friend to Mr. Miller and took me door to door as he solicited funds to purchase a silver bracelet for the war hero who was awarded the Navy Cross. I can still recall the proud look on my father’s face as the bracelet was presented to Mr. Miller at a celebration in Waco.
I also remember the sadness that engulfed the large Miller family, and the entire community when we learned that Waco’s “hero” had perished when the ship that he was sailing on was attacked by a Japanese submarine.
The proposed monument to Mr. Miller on the banks of the Brazos River is crucial not only to a community but to a country. I agree with Baylor Senior Lecturer David A. Smith who recently wrote an editorial stating that the monument must capture the spirit and humanity of Mr. Miller.
Today, children in Waco are collecting funds in containers that display a caricature of Mr. Miller. Local foundations and community groups have gotten involved to raise the necessary funding for the project.
While a member of Congress I have attempted to have our nation award Mr. Miller the Congressional Medal of Honor for his war heroics. I believe that he is more than deserving, and that the future of our nation may well have been altered had it not been for his decision to place his cooking duties to the side, and operate an anti-artillery weapon that significantly limited the attack, while giving many of his fellow sailors, some seriously wounded, the opportunity to take shelter.
Too often those who have served our nation with distinction, and without any thought of self, have been forgotten. We must not allow that to be Mr. Miller’s fate. The proposed monument is crucial to that objective.
