missfolly:

‘The Hero of Pearl Harbor’ Admiral Nimitz pins the Navy Cross on Doris ‘Dorie’ Miller, at ceremony on board warship in Pearl Harbor, May 27, 1942

“On 7 December 1941, Miller awoke at 06:00 and was collecting laundry when the alarm for general quarters was sounded. He headed for his battle station, the antiaircraft battery magazine amidship, only to discover that torpedo damage had destroyed it. He went on deck where he was assigned to carry wounded fellow sailors to safer locations. When Captain Mervyn Bennion was injured by a bomb splinter, an officer ordered Miller to the bridge to help in the effort to move him to a place of relative safety. Miller picked him up and attempted to carry him to a first-aid station; the Captain refused to leave his post and remained on the bridge until his death. When directed to assist in loading a pair of unattended Browning .50 caliber anti-aircraft machine guns, Miller took control of one and began firing at the Japanese planes, even though he had no training in operating the weapon. He fired the gun until he ran out of ammunition. Japanese aircraft eventually dropped two armor-piercing bombs through the deck of the battleship and launched five 18 in (460 mm) aircraft torpedoes into her port side. Heavily damaged by the ensuing explosions, and suffering from severe flooding below decks, West Virginia slowly settled to the harbor bottom as her crew—including Miller—abandoned ship. Miller was commended by the Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on 1 April 1942, and on 27 May 1942 he received the Navy Cross, which AdmiralChester W. Nimitz—the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet—presented to Miller on board aircraft carrier Enterprise for his extraordinary courage in battle.” Source: Wikipedia