Nixing Black hero’s name from Va.-built aircraft carrier is offensive, affront to military members

It’s not just that the administration of President Donald Trump, who’s proved repeatedly that he’s racist, wants to remove the name of Pearl Harbor hero Doris “Dorie” Miller from an aircraft carrier under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding – and name it for Trump, according to a published report. 

The USS Doris Miller would be the first carrier named for a Black person. No carrier has been named for a sitting president, CNN reported recently. 

Nor is it that Trump dodged military service himself during Vietnam with repeated deferments. (He was like many other men from rich, influential families who avoided conscription.)

Let me make it plain: How could any congressperson or military official countenance such a special honor for Trump, who has called American troops who died in war “losers” and “suckers”? 

During Trump’s first term, the service announced the Ford-class vessel would honor Miller. Sources told CNN that internal conversations have discussed renaming it for Trump. The carrier is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2034.

It would be a stunning betrayal to celebrate a man who’s requested that wounded veterans be prevented from participating in military parades where he attended. Trump’s disdain for the sacrifice of military men and women is reprehensible – especially in a commander in chief.

A Pentagon spokesperson told me by email last week there was “nothing to announce” right now about the issue – but notably didn’t deny the CNN report.

This is a huge insult to Miller’s legacy, African-Americans and service members in general. Miller, from Waco, Texas, enlisted in the segregated Navy in 1939, when Black people were limited to support roles. He completed boot camp in Norfolk, and he then was assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia.

Miller was a mess attendant at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, but he proved his skill and love of country – at a time when the country didn’t love Black people back.

During the onslaught that killed or wounded more than 3,500 Americans, Miller rescued wounded sailors. He also wielded an anti-aircraft gun – for which he had no training – and fired on enemy planes. It’s unclear whether he downed any, though Miller said he thought he hit one, according to Navy records. He earned the Navy Cross, the service’s second-highest honor.

Miller was killed in action in November 1943 when a Japanese submarine sank the Liscome Bay in the Pacific. 

CNN reported the Navy is now referring to the new aircraft carrier internally only by its hull number, CVN-81.

From the Kennedy Center to the Great Lakes, Trump has become downright pathological about nomenclatures and edifices. His sycophants may care about the name changes, but many Americans see his campaign as childish.

The Navy could rename another warship after Miller, CNN reported, and recommend him for the Medal of Honor. It’s the highest decoration for military valor and, likely but for racism, was denied decades ago.

Miller deserves both honors – including his name on the carrier. A ceremony in January 2020 at Pearl Harbor announced the recognition.

“In selecting this name, we honor the contributions of all our enlisted ranks, past and present, men and women, of every race, religion and background,” said Thomas Modly, then-acting secretary of the Navy.

More than 70 Democrats in Congress, including several from Virginia, have urged the U.S. secretary of defense and acting secretary of the Navy to keep Miller’s name on the carrier.

“When he served, segregation restricted the roles available to Black sailors and servicemembers,” the Aug. 26 letter says. “Yet, when his country came under attack, Miller did not hesitate for one second to put himself in harms’ way to defend his fellow sailors and his nation.

“This story embodies the finest traditions of the United States Armed Forces.”

I asked Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Virginia Beach, and a former Navy helicopter pilot, why she didn’t sign the letter. Her spokesperson didn’t respond to my emails. She’s in a tough campaign rematch against Elaine Luria.

Her decision to stay mute is craven. 

That Trump is relegating someone who is African-American is no surprise. His racism toward people of color – and Black people in particular – is well-documented and decades old. Here are several examples:

• In 1973, the U.S. Justice Department sued Trump and his father for racial bias at Trump housing developments in New York. The case was eventually settled in which the Trumps promised not to discriminate. Testers for the New York City Human Rights Division said Black people who went to Trump buildings were told there were no apartments available, while white people were offered units.
•  He ran newspaper ads calling for the return of the death penalty in New York state following the arrests of five Black and Latino boys dubbed the Central Park Five, at a time of heightened emotions in the city. They were charged in the 1989 rape and pummeling of a white woman. They were convicted and served prison time, but those convictions were later overturned after another man admitted the rape. Trump has never apologized to them.
•  Trump led the lying, toxic birtherism claims that Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States. Obama became the nation’s first Black president in 2009.
•  Trump has fought diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that have provided Black and Latino people with a foothold into education and employment. He has said little about the centuries of discrimination and enduring governmental structures that prohibited Black people from a level playing field.
• He put the brakes on efforts to place abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.
• He repeated false, racist stereotypes that Haitian immigrants were eating dogs and cats in Ohio during the 2024 presidential campaign. 
•  In the wake of the Army helicopter-airline crash near Reagan Washington National Airport in January 2025 that killed 67 people, and with investigations just starting, Trump baselessly rushed to blame the collision on DEI policies to boost hiring of air traffic controllers. Nor did he acknowledge the crowded airspace around Reagan National and its shorter-than-average runways that have long been challenges for pilots.

Against this backdrop, the administration’s attempt to remove Doris Miller’s name should be seen for what it is: Racist. Usurping a real hero’s rightful honor. Sucking up to someone who denigrates military men and women.

Trump isn’t worthy of this recognition. Miller is.