The battle at Pearl Harbor had its own heroes. One of them was Doris (Dorrie) Miller the USS West Virginia’s heavyweight boxing champion. Dorrie carried his wounded captain to safety, then manned a sub-machine gun and shot down three enemy planes.

What makes his courage even more extraordinary is that Dorrie had never handled a machine gun before.

He was black, and like all African-Americans in the navy at the time he was assigned to menial tasks. In his case, as a mess attendant. Fourteen men received America’s highest military award for heroism on that day, but not Dorrie. He received the Navy Cross instead. He was the first black to receive that medal, but he was passed over for the highest honour.

Dr Stephen Ambrose, historian and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, says in Legacy of Attack:

"The beginning of the breakdown of racial segregation in the United States started here in Pearl Harbor. Black men, just like everybody else, saw a buddy down there in that oil-covered water with fire going on… and he dove in to save him. That happened again and again. White America began to learn that there’s an awful lot of bravery, skill, endurance and character in black America."

Dorrie Miller was killed two years after Pearl Harbor, when his ship was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.

His bravery in battle is portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jnr in Touchstone Picture’s epic movie "Pearl Harbor".