HOW A SHIP’S COOK SHOT DOWN 6 JAPANESE AIRCRAFT

Doris “Dorie” Miller was a crewman on the USS West Virginia, serving as a cook. On December 7, 1941, his day started like any other with serving breakfast and collecting laundry, until the first of 7 torpedoes slammed into the battleship and the call went out: “All hands, man your battle stations.” The attack on Pearl Harbor had begun.

Miller fought his way from the lower deck up to the bridge and saw the Japanese aircraft over a harbor already in flames. His own battle station, the magazine of a heavy anti-aircraft gun, had already been destroyed, so he reported for any other duty. Together with an officer he tried to get the ship’s wounded captain off the bridge. The captain was hurt too badly and refused to leave his post, so all they could do was move him into cover to shield him from further shrapnel.

A lieutenant then ordered Miller to help another sailor reload a Browning M2 machine gun. Miller had never handled the weapon and was given only a rough briefing on how it worked. His job was to feed ammunition, but the moment his comrades were distracted, Miller was already behind the gun, shooting down enemy aircraft. The lieutenant and other enlisted men now worked as his loaders, and Miller brought down as many as 6 Japanese planes.
Miller fired until his ammunition ran out. Japanese aircraft finally put two armor-piercing bombs through the deck and landed 6 more torpedo hits. When the attack eased off, Miller helped pull wounded sailors out of the water and the spilled oil and get them onto the quarterdeck, saving many of his comrades’ lives.

The USS West Virginia was badly damaged, but the crew kept her from capsizing. She settled on the bottom instead and could be raised later. Miller survived the attack on Pearl Harbor and was awarded the Navy Cross. He was killed on November 23, 1943, in the Pacific during a Japanese submarine attack.

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