Doris Miller was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic actions during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Miller helped save lives by carrying injured sailors to safety and continuing to fight off enemy planes with a machine gun until he ran out of ammunition, then picking up another gun to hold off planes until backup arrived. Miller died at age 24 while serving on a ship that was sunk during World War II.

1. Doris Miller
Doris miller is a hero to many people. Doris miller was the first African-American to be awarded the
Navy Cross, but he was also awarded the combat action ribbon and the Purple Heart. Doris helped
save Pearl Harbor from the Japanese attack.
Doris Miller was born in Waco, Texas, on October 12, 1919. He was the third of four sons and helped
around the house, cooking meals and doing laundry, as well as working on the family farm. Miller was
a good student and was a fullback on the football team at Waco′s A.J. Moore Academy. He was
called the Raging Bull because of his emotions and he was large for his age. He was expelled from
school before graduating for fighting with students who insulted him because of his race. On January
25, 1937, at age 17, he began attending the eighth grade again. Forced to repeat the grade the
following year, Miller decided to drop out of school. He then turned 20 and joined the Navy.
Doris is a hero because of his bravery and courage. He ran miles and miles carrying people on his
back and taking them to safety. Then Doris was assigned to shoot the machine gun. He shot at
planes until he ran out of ammo. Then he picked up a dropped gun form a solider and held off the
planes until back up arrived, they then had won the war.
I chose Doris Miller as a hero because of his bravery and of how he ran miles and miles saving
other peoples lives. I also chose him as my hero because both of my grandpas had been in the war
and each one of them had been awarded the Purple Heart.
Doris miller had eventually died on November 24, 1943 and age 24. Doris was on a ship going in to
war. Doris and all of his troops had tried as hard as they could to help. Then the ship got hit and
started to sink. The ship went underwater in minutes there were only a few survivors but Doris was
not one of them. This is why Doris Miller is my hero.