Reports say USS Dorie Miller may be renamed after Trump

By RealWV Staff,

LEWISBURG, W.Va. — Dorie Miller Park sits in the historically-Black community centered around the former Bolling School in Lewisburg. The park is named after a young sailor who was tending to the Mess Hall at age 22 on December 7, 1941.

Stationed aboard the USS West Virginia, Miller and his crewmates were under attack. Despite not being trained to use it, in response to the attack Miller manned a 50-caliber Browning anti-aircraft machine gun and was able to take down a Japanese aircraft, buying enough time for numerous fellow sailors to live through the day despite their ship sinking. He was awarded the Naval Cross in 1942 for his bravery.

For a comprehensive history of Dorie Miller Park, written by Autumn Shelton, follow the below link:

Today, we reflect on the attack at Pearl Harbor, and a small park in Lewisburg dedicated to a hero

Shelton wrote, “According to an article written by William ‘Skip’ Deegans and published in the Mountain Messenger in April 2022, the principal of Bolling High and Elementary School, Earl Clay, in 1945, asked the Lewisburg Parks Commission to change the name of the recreational area from the ‘Lewisburg Colored Recreational Center’ to the ‘Dorie Miller Recreational Center,’ in Miller’s honor.”

The park is heavily utilized by the local community in Lewisburg for community celebrations, birthday parties, and recreational sports.

Who will the ship be named after now?

During President Donald Trump’s first term in office, the Navy said that a new aircraft carrier would be named the USS Dorie Miller in honor of the fallen hero. Now, according to CNN’s reporting, the Navy may rename the USS Dorie Miller in Trump’s honor, name another ship after Miller, and award Miller the Medal of Honor.

“”The choice of USS Doris Miller marked the first time an aircraft carrier would honor an enlisted sailor, and the first aircraft carrier to be named for an African American.,” says the CNN story by Haley Britzky and Pamela Brown. “It’s unclear what the Navy is seeking to change the name of the carrier to, though two of the sources said there have been internal conversations about renaming it to honor Trump. It would be an unprecedented move to name an aircraft carrier after a sitting president.”

“The effort to rename the USS Doris Miller has been underway since earlier this year, the sources said. Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao and his office have also been looking into updating the official guidance for how ships should be named and specifying who they can be named after, including presidents, two of the sources said,” according to the CNN story.

RealWV has reached out to local and federal officials for comment on the possible renaming. Stay tuned for updates to this breaking story.