U.S. Navy Pearl Harbor Bulletin Officially Recognizing Black War Hero Dorie Miller, First Black Recipient of the Navy Cross, 1942

Pearl Harbor Hero Dorie Miller

Ephemera and pamphlets

[African American Military][WWII][Pearl Harbor] Navy Department News Bulletin and Press Release documents, a pivotal wartime record of shifting racial attitudes in the United States Navy, distinguished by its formal acknowledgment of Doris “Dorie” Miller’s heroism at Pearl Harbor. Issued between April 3 and April 7, 1942, the documents announce that the Navy would begin accepting “Negro volunteers for general service” beyond the restrictive Messman Branch, marking a significant institutional response to mounting public pressure for racial equality in the U.S. Armed Forces. The bulletin prominently recounts Dorie Miller’s actions during the December 7, 1941 attack, when he manned a machine gun under fire despite not being formally trained for combat duty. Between this expansion of Black enlistment and official commendation of Miller’s bravery, the publications capture a moment when African American military service and sacrifice forced a public confrontation with the Navy’s segregationist structure.

Navy Department. Navy News Bulletin. Washington, D.C.: Office of Public Relations, Analysis Section, April 3–7, 1942. Together with: Navy Department. “Navy to Accept Negroes for General Service.” Washington, D.C., April 7, 1942. Two mimeographed typescripts. Navy News Bulletin is nine pages, approximately 14 x 8½ inches, with contemporary handwritten annotations in ink and red marker; press briefing measures approximately 10½ x 8 inches. On page four of the buletin, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox is quoted commending the “22-year-old Texan” for “distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and disregard of his own personal safety,” noting that Miller “protected a machine gun until ordered to leave that bridge.” The bulletin further acknowledges that more than three months elapsed before Miller’s identity became public, underscoring the Navy’s initial reluctance to spotlight Black heroism. The press release states that “the same physical and mental entrance standards required of all Navy personnel is to be required of Negroes,” assigning enlistees to District craft, Navy Yards, and construction units building bases beyond the continental United States, while continuing recruitment for the Messman Branch.

The significance of Miller’s inclusion in this report cannot be overstated: his public recognition became a rallying point for African American newspapers and civil rights advocates demanding equitable treatment and expanded combat roles for Black servicemen. Issued only four months after Pearl Harbor and at the outset of expanded mobilization, these documents illustrate the Navy’s cautious but progressing racial policy under the pressures of domestic civil rights activism. Light creasing, handling wear, and minor corner dog-ears; annotations remain clear and text fully legible. Overall condition very good. Two consequential Navy records linking Black war hero Dorie Miller’s celebrated act of valor to the early wartime transformation of Black naval service.

Item #21866

Price: $4,500.00