So You're a Cook. What Else Can you do?

 Doris "Dorie" Miller, Hero of Pearl Harbor, was born on 12 Oct 1919 in Waco, Texas, United States. His parents were Conery Miller, who was a farmer and Henrietta Murray.  

 ​He was a​ large man and had played high school football​. 

Dorie was a​ cook aboard the battleship USS West Virginia when it was struck by Japanese bombers in Pearl Harbor on ​December 7​, 1941. He help​e​d ​​take the wounded men below deck​. ​Then D​orie did not hesitate to defend the ship ​by grab​bing a machine gun.

His actions awarded​ him the Navy Cross, which was presented to him by Adm. Chester Nimitz, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He was the first African American to be so awarded.

Award

His citation reads: "For distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. While at the side of his Captain on the bridge, Miller, despite enemy strafing and bombing and in the face of a serious fire, assisted in moving his Captain, who had been mortally wounded, to a place of greater safety, and later manned and operated a machine gun directed at enemy Japanese attacking aircraft until ordered to leave the bridge."

Dorie ​Miller did not live past the war. He died on November 24, 1943 aboard the USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56), an escort carrier, at sea during the Battle of Makin in World War II.

Memorial: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9955928/doris-miller

"MY COUSIN'S A SUPERHERO! Kids Tell TRUE STORY of DORIE MILLER: WWII HERO | Kidsplaining™️ | Ancestry." Ancestry (channel). 22 May 2021.

Stories From The Genealogist: Mary McNally 1812-1883

Connection> Mary McNally 1812 /m./ John C Tyrrell 1815 / their dau./ Catharine Tyrell 1834 /m./ Henry McCarthy 1838 /their dau./ Mary McCarthy 1867 /m./ James Dunn 1864 /son/ John Francis Dunn 1887 /m./ Sarah Craig 1887 /dau./ Ruth Catherine Dunn 1916 /m./ Ira Reese Day 1921

My 3rd great grandmother on my mother’s side.

Mary, called Mamie, was born on Feb 19, 1812 in Leixpix, County Kildare, Ireland to Will McNally c. 1785 and Margaret Mary Kelly c. 1785. She and her husband, John C. Tyrrell Immigrated in 1848 with their children.

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Stories From The Genealogist: John C Tyrrell.

Connection> John C Tyrrell 1815 / dau./ Catharine Tyrell 1834 /m./ Henry McCarthy 1838 /dau./ Mary McCarthy 1867 /m./ James Dunn 1864 /son/ John Francis Dunn 1887 /m./ Sarah Craig 1887 /dau./ Ruth Catherine Dunn 1916 /m./ Ira Reese Day 1921

John was born in Ireland, probably Kildare due to his parents, Patrick and Jane both living there. He marries Mary McNally on Jul 1, 1833 Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. They immigrated to America in 1848. John and his wife, Mary lived in Paterson, New Jersey. John served as a Union Soldier in the American Civil War April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865.

John C. Tyrrell and Mary McNally were my 3rd great grandparents on my mother’s side. ~JD