Navy Considers Replacing Doris Miller’s Name on Carrier With Trump’s

Miller, the son of a sharecropper from Waco, Texas, enlisted in the Navy in 1939, when Black sailors were largely confined to service roles. He was a mess attendant aboard the USS West Virginia during Japan’s Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. (Tell Us USA Ai image)

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	Navy Considers Replacing Doris Miller’s Name on Carrier With Trump’s Ashley Roberts - Capitol Hill Tell Us USA News Network WASHINGTON - Navy leaders are reportedly considering removing the name of Doris “Dorie” Miller, the Black Pearl Harbor hero, from a future aircraft carrier and potentially naming the vessel for President Donald Trump instead. No final decision has been announced. The Ford-class carrier, designated CVN-81, was named the USS Doris Miller in January 2020 by then-Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly. The designation made it the first U.S. aircraft carrier named for an enlisted sailor and the first named for an African American. Miller, the son of a sharecropper from Waco, Texas, enlisted in the Navy in 1939, when Black sailors were largely confined to service roles. He was a mess attendant aboard the USS West Virginia during Japan’s Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. During the attack, Miller helped carry wounded sailors to safety before operating a .50-caliber anti-aircraft gun, despite having received no formal training on the weapon. He fired at Japanese aircraft until the ammunition ran out. Admiral Chester Nimitz awarded Miller the Navy Cross in 1942, making him the first African American sailor to receive the decoration. Officials familiar with internal discussions say the Navy has debated renaming CVN-81 for several months and has increasingly referred to the carrier only by its hull number in internal communications. A recent White House executive order on shipbuilding also referenced the ship solely as CVN-81. Naming a supercarrier after a sitting president would be unprecedented. Aircraft carriers have traditionally been named for former presidents and prominent national figures, while destroyers are more often named for Medal of Honor recipients. The Navy secretary holds formal authority over ship names, though a decision is expected to involve Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao. A broader review of Navy naming conventions began in 2025 under then-Navy Secretary John Phelan, and Cao’s office has reportedly been revising policy language to explicitly allow vessels to be named after presidents. Officials said Miller’s name could be reassigned to another warship rather than removed from Navy recognition altogether. He also is reportedly under consideration for a posthumous Medal of Honor, an upgrade long sought by his family, though the White House has not approved such an award. The proposal has prompted criticism from civil rights and veterans groups. NAACP President Derrick Johnson said removing Miller’s name from the carrier would dishonor the contributions and sacrifices of Black service members. The possible change follows the Pentagon’s mid-2025 renaming of the USNS Harvey Milk, an oiler previously honoring the gay-rights leader and Navy veteran, as the USNS Oscar V. Peterson. Hegseth described that decision as an effort to remove politics from ship naming. Modly has said the original selection of Miller’s name was recommended by a group of retired Black admirals. Miller’s family has said it was not notified of any plan to remove his name from CVN-81. The Navy, Pentagon and White House have not formally confirmed that the carrier will be renamed, and requests for comment have gone unanswered. The matter remains under discussion, according to officials familiar with the deliberations.