Top SASC Dem: Aircraft Carrier Should be Named After Fallen Black WWII Hero, Not Retitled for a Sitting President

PROVIDENCE, RI - In January of 2020, during President Trump's first term, the U.S. Navy officially announced that the USS Doris Miller (CVN-81) would be the first aircraft carrier named after a Black person and an enlisted sailor. Miller was a heroic sailor whose courageous actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor earned him the Navy Cross and he later died at sea when the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) that he was serving on was torpedoed and sunk during operations in the Pacific.

Now, recent news reports suggest that the Trump Administration is internally considering whether to try to strip Miller's name from the future aircraft carrier CVN-81 and instead replace it with President Donald J. Trump's moniker. An August 13, 2026 executive order signed by President Trump referred to the vessel by its official identification number, CVN-81, and made no mention of Miller. No decision has been formally announced.

Today, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), weighed in to defend keeping Miller's name on the future aircraft carrier and vowed to work with Congressional colleagues on a bipartisan basis to ensure the future ship is named after Miller.

Senator Reed stated:

"Doris "Dorie" Miller is a true American hero whose extraordinary courage and sacrifice deserves to be honored with the naming of this future aircraft carrier.

"Whoever is talking about trying to rename this ship for President Trump is doing him a real disservice and making him look like he'd be willing to seize a World War II hero's honor.

"The simple fact is: No U.S. aircraft carrier has ever been named after a sitting president. Breaking that precedent here would be an insult to our sailors and America's proud Naval traditions.

"Keep in mind: this vessel won't be commissioned until 2034 and the name of a ship can still be changed while it is under construction. So there is a long way to go.

"I encourage the Secretary of the Navy to publicly pledge that the Trump Administration plans to keep its commitment to honor World War II hero Dorie Miller and keep his name on the future aircraft carrier.

"And if a name change is announced, I will do everything in my power between now and 2034 to reverse it and ensure this future aircraft carrier is rightfully commissioned as the USS Doris Miller."

Military.com notes: "Doris Miller was a mess attendant, one of the few roles open to Black sailors in the era's segregated Navy.

"He was also the son of a sharecropper from Waco, Texas. After enlisting in 1939, he served aboard the battleship USS West Virginia when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

"During the attack, Miller carried wounded sailors to safety and manned a .50-caliber antiaircraft gun he had never been trained to use, firing until the ammunition ran out. Adm. Chester Nimitz awarded him the Navy Cross in 1942, making him the first African American to receive the decoration."

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