What is the name of this African American Messman Third Class of the United States Navy who was awarded great honors for his bravery during the attack on Pearl Harbor and for whom a park is dedicated in his honor close to the Waco Suspension Bridge?
Doris Miller Doris "Dorie" Miller (October 12, 1919November 24, 1943) was a Messman Third Class that the United States Navy noted for his bravery during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the third highest honor awarded by the US Navy at the time, after the Medal of Honor and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. The Navy Cross now precedes the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. Miller's acts were heavily publicized in the black press, making him an iconic emblem of the war for black Americans. Nearly two years after Pearl Harbor, he was killed in action when "Liscome Bay" was sunk by a Japanese submarine during the Battle of Makin.
Everett P. Pope Major Everett Parker Pope (July 16, 1919–July 16, 2009) was a United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his conspicuous gallantry on Peleliu in September 1944 while leading his men in an assault on a strategic hill, and for holding it, with rocks and bare fists when ammunition ran low, against Japanese suicide attacks.