WACO, TX — On Friday, Feb. 5, the Waco Post Office will host a special tribute and second-day-of-issue stamp ceremony honoring Waco native and war hero Doris Miller, one of four U.S. Navy icons being featured on a new set of commemorative stamps to be issued by the U.S. Postal Service on Feb. 4, in Washington, DC. Postmaster David Sanderson cordially invites the public to attend.

U.S. Congressman Chet Edwards, of Waco, will serve as keynote speaker for the event, to be held at 1 p.m., at the Waco YMCA - Doris Miller Branch, 1020 Elm St. Other community leaders and Postal Service officials participating in the stamp ceremony will include Waco Mayor Virginia Dupuy, Precinct 2 County Commissioner Lester Gibson, Vietnam War Veteran Robert Gamboa, YMCA Doris Miller Branch Director LaNita Luckey, U.S. Postal Service acting Rio Grande District Manager Steven Hernandez and Waco Postmaster David Sanderson.

The first black American hero of World War II, Doris “Dorie” Miller (1919-1943) became an inspiration to generations of Americans for his actions at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Serving aboard the battleship West Virginia as a mess attendant — the only job rating open to Blacks at the time — Miller helped rescue scores of shipmates wounded or trapped in wreckage. He was later ordered to the bridge to help move the ship’s mortally wounded captain. Never trained in its operation, he manned an unattended 50-caliber machine gun to fire on Japanese aircraft until ordered to abandon the bridge as fires raged out of control. He was later awarded the Navy Cross. Miller was promoted in June 1943 to officer’s cook third class aboard the new escort aircraft carrier Liscome Bay and was killed in action on Nov. 24 that year along with more than 600 shipmates when a Japanese torpedo sank the ship during the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. His body was lost at sea. His stamp is based on a 1942 photograph and depicts the crest of the destroyer escort USS Miller (DE-1091), commissioned in 1973. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr., portrayed Miller in the 2001 movie Pearl Harbor.

In addition to Doris Miller, other U.S. Navy icons commemorated on the sheet of 44-cent Distinguished Sailors collectable stamps, immortalize for their bravery and distinction during the 20th century include William S. Sims, Arleigh A. Burke, and John McCloy. The stamps, which go on sale nationwide Feb. 5, were designed by Phil Jordan of Falls Church, VA, and are based on photographs from Navy archives. Text along the top of the stamp sheet identifies the four sailors, the approximate date of each photograph, and a ship named in honor of each sailor.

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