H.C.R. No. 45       HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION            WHEREAS, During the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7,   1941, Petty Officer Doris Miller of the U.S. Navy demonstrated   valor above and beyond the call of duty, and he is long past due for   full recognition of his extraordinary courage and initiative on   that day; and          WHEREAS, A native of Texas, Doris "Dorie" Miller was born in   Waco on October 12, 1919, to Henrietta and Conery Miller; he was a   fullback on the football team at Moore High School in Waco, and he   went on to work on his father's farm; and          WHEREAS, In September 1939, Mr. Miller enlisted in the U.S.   Navy as a way to see the world and earn money for his family; at that   time, African Americans were only permitted to perform menial tasks   in the Navy, so Mr. Miller was trained as a mess attendant at the   Naval Training Station in Norfolk, Virginia; after a brief   assignment on the ammunition ship USS Pyro, he was transferred in   January 1940 to the battleship USS West Virginia, where he won   distinction among the crew as the ship's heavyweight boxing   champion; his rank at the time was mess attendant, second class; and          WHEREAS, Mr. Miller rose at 6 a.m. on the morning of December   7, 1941, and he was collecting laundry when the Japanese attack   began and the alarm for general quarters was sounded; even mess   attendants had a battle station, but Mr. Miller's, an antiaircraft   battery magazine, had already been destroyed by a torpedo, so he   went up on deck where, as the ship began to sink, he hauled wounded   shipmates through oil and water to safety on the quarterdeck; he was   then ordered to the bridge, where he picked up the ship's mortally   wounded captain and carried him to an aid station; and          WHEREAS, Mr. Miller then returned to the bridge, and on his   own initiative, he began firing a .50-caliber Browning antiaircraft   machine gun at the attacking Japanese planes; he had never trained   on the weapon, but, as he reported later, "It wasn't hard, I just   pulled the trigger and she worked fine"; with no concern for his own   safety, he continued firing until the gun's ammunition ran out,   possibly bringing down one of the enemy aircraft; in the meantime,   the West Virginia had been hit by five enemy torpedoes, and   Mr. Miller was finally forced to abandon ship with his surviving   crewmates; and          WHEREAS, In the aftermath of the attack, Mr. Miller was   commended by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, and on May 27, 1942,   he became the first African American to receive the Navy Cross, the   service's second-highest honor, which was personally presented to   him by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the commander of the Pacific   Fleet; he went on to serve on the USS Indianapolis and then the USS   Liscome Bay; that ship was sunk by a Japanese submarine on November   24, 1943, and though his body was never recovered, Mr. Miller was   eventually listed among the 646 sailors who died that day; at the   time of his death, his rank was cook, third class; and          WHEREAS, In the years since, Mr. Miller's actions have become   an important part of the legacy of Pearl Harbor; during the war, a   poster from the U.S. Office of War Information featured his image   and urged African Americans to join the war effort, and in 1973, a   Knox-class frigate was christened the USS Miller in his honor; in   1991, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority dedicated a bronze plaque to him at   the U.S. Naval Base in Pearl Harbor, and in 2001, he was portrayed   by the actor Cuba Gooding Jr. in the blockbuster film, Pearl Harbor;   more recently, his story has been featured prominently in the   National Museum of African American History and Culture in   Washington, D.C.; in addition to the Navy Cross, he was also   entitled to the Purple Heart, the American Defense Service Medal,   Fleet Clasp, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War   II Victory Medal; and          WHEREAS, In 1939, when the clouds of world war were gathering   in Europe and Asia, Dorie Miller chose to enlist in a Navy that did   not trust black men to serve in combat, and at a moment of direst   need, he picked up a weapon he had never used before and fought back   against a savage enemy, performing brilliantly and courageously   under fire in defense of his ship, his crewmates, and his nation;   his valiant service on that day, and afterwards, warrants the   highest honor that can be bestowed upon a member of the armed forces   of the United States; now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas   hereby urge the United States Congress to bestow on Doris "Dorie"   Miller the Congressional Medal of Honor; and, be it further          RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward official copies   of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the   secretary of the Navy, to the speaker of the House of   Representatives and the president of the Senate of the United   States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to   Congress with the request that this resolution be officially   entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of   the United States of America.     White       ______________________________ ______________________________      President of the Senate Speaker of the House                   I certify that H.C.R. No. 45 was adopted by the House on April   27, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 145, Nays 0, 2 present, not   voting.     ______________________________   Chief Clerk of the House                 I certify that H.C.R. No. 45 was adopted by the Senate on May   19, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.     ______________________________   Secretary of the Senate      APPROVED: __________________                   Date                       __________________                 Governor