CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON’S STATEMENT ON PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY

Washington, DC – (Wednesday, December 7, 2011)– Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson released the following statement today commemorating the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor:

“I rise in support to honor Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and to commemorate those who’ve served their country at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  I can find no greater inspiration for seeing our current struggles through to complete victory than in the men and women of past generations who served heroically in defense of our nation, especially at Pearl Harbor “a date which will live in infamy.”

One of those heroes was Dorie Miller, an African American mess attendant aboard the USS West Virginia, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Dorie Miller was responsible for dragging his ship's wounded commander out of the line of fire. Once his captain was safe, he manned a machine gun on the ship's deck.

He did so despite the fact that African Americans generally did not serve in combat operations or other positions of greater responsibility, and thus he had not been instructed in gunnery. With serious bombing and strafing all around him, Dorie Miller shot down at least two of the 29 Japanese planes that were lost by the attackers that day.

Dorie Miller continued to serve his country in the Navy during World War II. However, in 1943, he and 654 shipmates were killed in the line of duty when the Japanese sank the USS Liscome Bay near the Gilbert Islands.

Unfortunately, Dorie Miller's acts of valor have never been fully recognized, and some of the awards that were bestowed upon him were only given grudgingly. Dorie Miller's actions were not publicized until three months after the Pearl Harbor attack. Then, he was only given a letter of citation by the Secretary of the Navy--the lowest of awards for duty.

Dorie Miller was finally awarded the Navy Cross, but only after a public campaign by civil rights organizations brought about critical attention in the press. However, Dorie Miller was not decorated with the Nation's highest honor--the Congressional Medal of Honor. In fact, no African American who served in World War II received the Congressional Medal of Honor until seven Army veterans received the award in 1997.

As we honor the devotion, dedication, and sacrifice of all who served at Pearl Harbor, I can think of no better commemoration than to finally recognize the actions of Dorie Miller. I have introduced legislation which would begin to cure this injustice. The bill would waive the time limitation specified in current law for the awarding of military decorations in order to allow the posthumous award of the Congressional Medal of Honor to Dorie Miller for his heroic actions during World War II. I have asked my colleagues to cosponsor my bill and the Armed Services Committee to expedite its passage so that a long-awaited honor may finally be bestowed upon this deserving individual.”

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U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure and a senior member of the Science Committee. She represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas, which, includes Downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Oak Lawn, Turtle Creek,Old East Dallas, Pleasant Grove, & South Oak Cliff; all of Balch Springs, DeSoto, Hutchins, Lancaster & Wilmer and parts of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Ferris, Glenn Heights and Ovilla.