Underway, September 20, 1943, with a load of SBD Dauntlesses, TBF Avengers and F4F Wildcats.

Rear Admiral Henry Maston Mullinnix was born on 4 July 1892 in Spencer, Ind., and graduated first in his Naval Academy Class of 1916. He served in Balch (Destroyer #50), engaged in patrol and escort duty off Ireland during World War I. Following service in Gridley (DD-92) and Brooks (DD-232), he completed work in aeronautical engineering at Annapolis and MIT, receiving an M.S. degree in 1923.

After flight training at Pensacola, Fla., he was designated naval aviator on 11 January 1924. He was one of those mainly responsible for developing the air-cooled engine for naval aircraft. Between 1924 and 1941, besides various shore duties, he served in Saratoga (CV-3, as assembly & repair officer; assistant air officer; and commanding officer of her bombing squadron, VB-2B), Wright (AV-1), and was the first commanding officer of Albemarle (AV-5). Mullinnix commanded Saratoga from 7 April 1943, until 22 August, when he was transferred to duty with a carrier division, with the rank of rear admiral. Rear Admiral Mullinnix was ComCarDiv 24, on board Liscome Bay, when she was torpedoed and sunk off Makin Island, in the Gilberts, 24 November 1943. He was reported as "Missing In Action" and declared dead one year later. Henry M. Mullinnix was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit in recognition of his "outstanding initiative and superior executive ability."

Destroyer USS Mullinnix (DD-944) was named after him.

Cook Third Class Doris ("Dorie") Miller, USN, was born in Waco, Texas, on 12 October 1919. He enlisted in the Navy in September 1939 as a Mess Attendant Third Class. On 7 December 1941, while serving aboard USS West Virginia (BB-48), he distinguished himself by courageous conduct and devotion to duty during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on this occasion. (This Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives, #80-G-408456, shows Mess Attendant Second Class Miller just after being presented with the Navy Cross by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, on board USS Enterprise (CV-6) at Pearl Harbor, 27 May 1942.)

Doris Miller served aboard USS Indianapolis (CA-35) from December 1941 to May 1943. He was then assigned to the new escort carrier Liscome Bay (CVE-56). Cook Third Class Miller was lost with that ship when she was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-175 on 24 November 1943, during the invasion of the Gilbert Islands.

Destroyer escort, later frigate, USS Miller (DE-1091, later FF-1091) was named after him.