Edith Helm IL440

The home of one of Grayville's best known citizens was on this corner. Edith Helm was the widow of Rear Admiral James M. Helm, a native son of Grayville, who served 45 years in the Navy and was a recipient of the Navy Cross. After his death in 1927, she moved into a two story home located here. Edith Helm served as Social Secretary to Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mrs. Bess Truman. Eleanor Roosevelt spent two nights visiting here in 1936.

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Navy Mess Attendant School KV16
From 1933 to 1942, Navy recuits of African descent attended this school, located in barracks at Unit "K-West" and later at "B-East." Advancement opportunities for these sailors and counterparts of Asian-Pacific Island heritage were then limited to serving as officer's cooks or stewards. The school moved to Unit "X" in 1942 before training was relocated to Bainbridge, Maryland, and elsewhere. Though racial segregation continued, all job ratings were re-opened to qualified personnel in 1942. Mess attendants were re-designated "steward's mates" in 1943, and more than 1,100 members of the messman/steward branch will killed during World War II. Norfolk trainees decorated for heroism include Navy Cross recipients Dorris Miller, William Pinckney, and Leonard Harmon.

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Gen. Alexander Archer Vandegrift Q25
Gen. Alexander Archer Vandegrift was born in Charlottesville on 13 Mar. 1887. He entered the U.S. Marine Corps in 1909 and served on posts in the Caribbean, Central America, China, and the United States. General Vandegrift led American forces in their first successful major Pacific offensive in World War II at Guadalcanal and was awarded the Navy Cross and Medal of Honor. He also served as the Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1944 to 1947 and in 1945 became the first active-duty Marine four-star general. He died on 8 May 1973 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

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Doris Miller TX1255

Doris (Dorie) Miller was reared on a farm in McLennan County, Texas, and attended Waco's A.J. Moore High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was assigned to the battleship "USS West Virginia" in 1940. The "West Virginia" was docked in Pearl Harbor when it was struck by a Japanese torpedo on December 7, 1941. Moments after the torpedo hit, an explosion on a nearby ship showered the "West Virginia's" deck with burning debris and flaming oil. Miller helped move his wounded captain to safety, then maneuvered through the flame-swept deck and took over a machine gun position. Though never trained as an aerial gunner, he confidently shot down four enemy aircraft. Miller reacted with such extraordinary skill and bravery in the defense of his ship that he became the first African American to receive the Navy Cross. Fellow Texan Admiral Chester Nimitz awarded him the Navy Cross on May 7, 1942. Miller died when his ship, the "USS Linscombe Bay," was torpedoed in 1943.

The destroyer "USS Miller" was named in his honor in 1973. Miller, posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and honored by associations, cemeteries, parks, naval bases, and other organizations across the nation, is credited with helping break down the color barrier in the Navy.

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Leonard Roy Harmon TX11968

Born in Cuero, Leonard Roy Harmon enlisted in the U.S. Navy in Houston in June 1939. After training in Norfolk, Virginia, he reported for duty on the cruiser "U.S.S. San Francisco" and advanced to mess attendant first class.

During the World War II Battle of Guadalcanal, on November 12, 1942, a Japanese plane crashed into the radar and fire control station of the "San Francisco," causing 50 casualties. The following day, November 13, as the naval battle continued, several officers on the bridge were struck by enemy gunfire. Harmon rushed to help evacuate the wounded to a dressing station. He was killed as he shielded an injured shipmate from gunfire. For this act of extraordinary heroism, he was awarded the Navy Cross.

On May 21, 1943, Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy, announced the naming of a Navy vessel in Harmon's honor. The first U.S. warship named for a black man, the destroyer escort "U.S.S. Harmon" was christened by Mrs. Naunita Harmon Carroll, Harmon's mother, and launched on July 25, 1943. The vessel received three battle stars for service in the Pacific during World War II. In 1975, as a further memorial, the bachelor enlisted quarters at the U.S. Naval Air Station, North Island, California, was named Harmon Hall.

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