WEBVTT

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- Yes, on seven December, 1941,

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the Japanese had a surprise
attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

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and one of their specific goals

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was Battleship Row.

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Dorie Miller was on the USS
West Virgina, a battleship.

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He had just finished,
he was a mess attendant.

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He had just finished serving
and he was sortin' laundry

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when the first enemy attack hit his ship,

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the West Virginia.

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During that time, everybody on the crew

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has a battle station.

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When Dorie reports to his,

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that part of the ship is
damaged so he moves on.

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He encounters an officer,
who was with the captain

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of West Virginia, Caption O'Bannion

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and he's got a mortar attack,
shrapnel attack rather.

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He's been hit by shrapnel
and he's injured,

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seriously injured and so the
officer asked him to move,

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assist him in moving the
captain to a safer deck,

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which he does.

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And then he proceeds,
when they reach that deck,

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to respond to the attack

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and he and an officer looked,

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there's an ammunition gun there,

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a 50 caliber anti-aircraft gun

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and Miller, takes the gun and he shoots.

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Now what's extraordinary about that is

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as a mess attendant,
normally his battle station

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would have been to hand the
ammunition up to the gunner

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because blacks weren't
allowed to be gunners,

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to fill the gunners who
made rank at that time.

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But Dorie literally took the
gun and started shootin'.

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And there's lots of stories.

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Did he shoot somethin' down?

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Did he not?

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We really don't know.

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No one is credited with a
shoot down at Pearl Harbor.

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He said, had said in several interviews

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he thinks he might have hit one or two

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and that's why that
carries on into our time,

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that Dorie Miller shot down
planes at Pearl Harbor.

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- [Interviewer] I know,
I'm sorry this is...

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- I should add too that
in addition to that,

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the ship's are really damaged.

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Can't be saved.

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One of O'Bannion's last thing is to give

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the abandon ship order.

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And so Dorie Miller,
there are injured people

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and sailors trying to move about the ship.

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He assists them and then
once he's in the water,

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he continues to do that.

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So his heroism didn't
stop with firing a gun,

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is the point I want to make.

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It continued throughout
the events of that morning,

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that fateful morning.