; Whereas during World War I, approximately 800 African Americans were killed in action; Whereas Doris Miller enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a Mess Attendant where he served on the USS West Virginia when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; Whereas Miller was assigned to carry the wounded sailors to safer quarters; Whereas he returned to the deck and picked up a 50-caliber Browning antiaircraft machine gun that he had never been trained to shoot and managed to shoot down enemy aircraft; Whereas Doris Miller, a Black man, was commended by the Secretary of the Navy and became the first African American to be presented with the Navy Cross; Whereas before 1940, African Americans were barred from flying for the U.S. military; Whereas civil rights organizations and the Black press exerted pressure on President Roosevelt, which resulted in the formation of the Tuskegee Airmen based in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1941; Whereas the Tuskegee Airmen included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff, instructors, and the personnel who kept the planes and pilots in the air; Whereas the Black Tuskegee Airmen overcame segregation and prejudice to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II; Whereas the Tuskegee Airmen’s achievements helped pave the way for full integration of the U.S. military; Whereas during World War II, approximately 700 African Americans were killed in action; Whereas Cornelius Charlton, a career military man, served in the Army during the Korean War; Whereas on June 2, 1951, his platoon encountered heavy resistance while attempting to take Hill 543 and the leader of his platoon was wounded; Whereas Charlton took command, regrouped his men and led an assault on the hill; Whereas he single-handedly attacked and disabled the last remaining enemy gun encampments; Whereas he subsequently died from the wounds inflicted by a grenade but he is credited with saving much of his platoon