I just heard something on the news this morning and to be honest, it is making my stomach turn. This has been in the works for a while, but this is the first time I’ve heard about it. I think it’s one of those sneaky attempts to get something done before it gets too much publicity.

I volunteered into the NAVY back in February 1972, and in boot camp they taught us the story of the black mess cook, Doris Miller who left his duties on the mess deck of the West Virginia to go topside and see what all the noise was when the Japanese were attacking in Pearl Harbor. In an act of incredible bravery, he manned an abandoned anti-aircraft gun and proceeded, with no prior training, to strafe the Zeros of the attacking Japanese. This was, and still is, one of the single greatest acts of intestinal fortitude I’ve ever heard of.

Dory Miller was a hero – right up there with Audie Murphy and Sergeant York as far as I’m concerned. He was killed in a torpedo attack while serving on the USS Lipscombe Bay during the same war on November 24, 1943, in the Gilbert Island Operation. In those days, the US military kept the public apprised of war casualties as soon as they could, unlike the shady Cooper and Hegseth in Trump’s Iran travesty. Not only did I find out this morning that Miller has not yet been awarded the Medal of Honor for this act, but an aircraft carrier being built that was designated to be named after this bravest of the brave sailor is now being considered for a new name – the cowardly draft-dodger Donald Trump. Can you imagine Trump doing what Miller did? Me neither.

Miller was awarded the Navy Cross, and those who merit the cross are supposed to be automatically considered for the Congressional Medal of Honor. I don’t know if he ever got this consideration, and if not, that’s a shame. On the other hand, if he was considered for the CMH and rejected, that’s yet another shame and reeks of something far worse. If Trump had an ounce of decency – which he does not – he would shut this unscrupulous effort down – and award Miller the CMH.

I’m not sure how the American public is taking this, but speaking as an old, white Ozark hillbilly Navy Veteran and plank owner of the USS Nimitz, I am appalled that the Navy is even considering this travesty. Doris Miller is one of my greatest heroes, can you imagine a black mess cook, never trained to fight, who had been discriminated against in his own Navy, courageously grabbing an unmanned gun with aircraft machine gun bullets slamming the steel around him? I did not realize he has not – of yet – been (posthumously) awarded the CMH, but I’m certainly ready to join any group working to that end, and I’ll happily bring my Nimitz plankowner’s certificate (for what it might be worth) to any protest that will organize around taking the name of a genuine war hero’s name off this new carrier to rename it for someone the whole country sees as a draft-dodging coward and grifter. This same individual has also tried to put his name up alongside another war hero, John Kennedy. It would seem he doesn’t think the public understands just what a coward he is/was. and just how desperate he is to be named among the brave, of whom he is definitely not!

We veterans and everyone else must take a firm stand against allowing the Navy to abandon the practice of naming capital ships after heroes – be they warriors or deceased leaders. Trump has single-handedly wreaked more havoc on the nation of the United States than any other president in history and is the very least deserving of an honor like a carrier name. No sitting president has ever had this honor bestowed on him and we certainly don’t need to start with this one! Especially this one – whose rich daddy kept him out of harm’s way while other guys his age went to Vietnam. What a travesty – if the wormy little bootlicker Hegseth would take a stand against this, he might earn a few badly needed points with the American public, but he won’t. We must rise up against this outrageous transgression on American honor and dignity!

If the military feels the need to name something after Trump, why not some of the noisome, dingy toilets on the Ford or the Lincoln? I’m sure the sailors on board would happily stop in once in a while and pay their sincerest respects to Trump.

MK