The family of a deceased Black sailor who was set to have an aircraft carrier named after him have said they were shocked to learn it might be renamed to instead honor President Donald Trump.
CNN and NBC News, citing anonymous sources, reported last week that the Navy is considering the name change for the ship, which is still under construction. It was on a path to be named the USS Doris Miller, after a Black sailor who served in World War II and later became the first African American to receive the Navy Cross due to actions deemed heroic in Pearl Harbor.
Thomas Bledsoe, Miller’s great-nephew, told CNN on Thursday “it was quite a shock” to learn about the potential name change. He added that the family learned of the name reconsideration from a news outlet rather than the Navy, which “caused a lot of concern and uncertainty.”
“This isn’t just about a name on a ship,” he added. “It’s about an opportunity and a goal. It’s about a significance in what it means to be an American.”
Other Reactions to the Potential Name Change
The NAACP was among those speaking out against the reports about the potential name change.
Its president, Derrick Johnson, wrote on X that the allegations were “a slap in the face to every war hero and to every service member who has worn the uniform.”
“It’s beyond comprehension for a president to want his own name on a Navy ship while our armed forces are living in deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln,” Johnson added.
Ret. Navy Adm. James Stavridis, also former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, urged the Trump administration not to “undo the excellent decision” to name the carrier after Miller.
Lawmakers including Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.) took to social media to condemn the potential name change.
“Dorie Miller’s bravery at Pearl Harbor is legendary and resulted in him being awarded the Navy Cross,” Kelly, a veteran, wrote on X on Aug. 20. “This aircraft carrier shouldn’t be renamed at all, let alone for Donald Trump, who has denigrated service members like Dorie Miller who have paid the ultimate price.”
Norcross echoed the concern.
“The audacity to even suggest that we replace the name of Doris Miller, a hero whose courage shined on one of our nation’s darkest days, with draft-dodging Donald Trump is disgusting,” he wrote.
Miller’s Military Service
Miller, who died on the USS Lisome Bay, at the Battle of Makin Island, became the first Black sailor to earn the Navy Cross for displaying “extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety” to move his captain to safety after the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
The sailor, who was from Waco, Texas, helped move the mortally wounded commander of the battleship West Virginia to safety and then manned a machine gun to fire at attacking aircraft. This was despite being barred from training the weapon because of his race.
“Although untrained, he laid down effective fire and stopped firing when he ran out of ammunition and the ship began to sink,” a notice on the VA website says. “Even then, he persisted in helping his fellow sailors to safety until he finally made his way to shore.”
In 2020, then-Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said the Navy would name the carrier after Miller. The decision marked the first time a carrier would be named for an African American or a sailor.
Previously, most of the Navy’s aircraft carriers have been named for U.S. presidents, though not sitting presidents.
“Dorie Miller was the son of a sharecropper,” Modly said at the time during the ceremony, according to a Navy press release. “And, he was an American sailor—so designated by the uniform that he wore—the same uniform all sailors wore, and still wear, regardless of race, ethnic background, or political persuasion.”
More than 16 million American military members served in World War II and over 400,000 of those died during the conflict, according to the National WWII Museum. The war lasted between 1939 and 1945.
The U.S. became involved in the conflict when, on Sept. 16, 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act, requiring all men between 21 and 36 to register with local draft boards. When the Axis attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. started actively supplying Allied nations.
Two sources told NBC that officials had been discussing changing the name of the ship for several months. The Navy secretary is responsible for naming ships and the Secretary of Defense also has a role in the decision.
A source told CNN that the Navy will rename another warship after Miller, who Cuba Gooding Jr. portrayed in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor, instead, and is recommending him for the Medal of Honor, which is the highest decoration for military valor.
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