Navy considering renaming ship for Trump instead of Black war hero

Aug. 21 (UPI) — The U.S. Navy is reportedly considering renaming a ship under construction for President Donald Trump instead of naming it for a Black sailor hailed for his heroic actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The planned name change was reported by CNN, NBC News and ABC News and attributed to anonymous sources.

The Ford-clblock aircraft carrier was set to be named the USS Doris Miller after a Black sailor who helped defend U.S. forces from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II. The Navy announced that the ship would be named for Miller during Trump’s first term in office.

Miller’s family attended the first cut of steel ceremony for the ship in August 2021.

One of the sources who spoke to CNN said the Navy plans to name another ship after Miller and plans to award him the Medal of Honor. Miller was the first Black sailor to be awarded the Navy Cross, the Navy’s second-highest honor. It was awarded to him in 1942 by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.

Miller died in November 1943 when a Japanese submarine torpedoed the USS Liscome Bay during the Battle of Makin, killing 700 sailors.

Miller was a mess attendant second clblock aboard the battleship USS West Virginia during the attack. It was one of the few jobs open to Black sailors at the time. He manned an anti-aircraft gun during the attack, though he wasn’t trained on it. He is credited with shooting down at least one Japanese plane and dragging wounded U.S. sailors, including the ship’s captain, to safety.

Miller’s great-nephew Thomas Bledsoe told CNN that Miller’s family wasn’t informed of the change. He told ABC that the potential name change “comes as a shock.” The family has been working to get Miller the Medal of Honor “for years,” Bledsoe said. He said the Navy’s recommendation for the medal is “very positive.”

The U.S.S. Doris Miller would be the first aircraft carrier named after a Black person and an enlisted sailor.

Destroyers are often named for Medal of Honor recipients, but aircraft carriers are usually named for presidents, NBC said. But ships have never been named for sitting presidents.

A destroyer named for Miller entered the fleet in 1972 and was decommissioned in 1991.