WASHINGTON — Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., plans to introduce three bills Thursday to block the Trump administration from scrapping plans to name an aircraft carrier in honor of a Black war hero and instead naming it after President Donald Trump.
\n\nTwo U.S. officials said that Navy leadership has been discussing changing the proposed name of the aircraft carrier USS Doris Miller. The ship is still under construction but is set to be named in honor of Miller, an enlisted sailor who famously staffed an antiaircraft gun during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941.
\n\nMiller, a mess attendant on the USS West Virginia, was never trained on the weapon but grabbed it during the attack and is credited with shooting down at least one Japanese plane and dragging wounded U.S. sailors to safety. Racial segregation policies at the time did not allow Black people in combat roles; they were limited in what jobs they could perform.
\n\nThe USS Doris Miller would be the first aircraft carrier named after a Black service member and an enlisted sailor. The decision and the announcement to name the carrier after Miller were made during Trump’s first term.
\n\nNow, Navy leaders are considering…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/