Supporters have argued for several decades that Waco's Doris Miller deserves a posthumous medal of honor for his heroism on the day of the attack on pearl harbor, but now World War II Veteran Stephen Sherman thinks the time is finally right.
"During the sixty years that we've been trying to get him the medal of honor... it has not come through. Sixty years and thirteen presidents, but now I think we have a good chance of getting it. I want to get a million signatures if possible on our petition," says Sherman.
Sherman is trying to gather a million signatures to present to President Bush and Congress... in an effort to honor Doris Miller with a Congressional Medal of Honor.
Doris Miller rescued crew members and manned a machine gun on the USS West Virginia when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Miller shot down four or five enemy planes, but was only recognized for shooting two down.
He was awarded the Navy Cross, but supporters have long believed he deserved more.
Sherman started collecting signatures in California just two months ago, but now he's turned his attention to Miller's hometown.
So far, he has collected more than two thousand signatures.
Sherman actually met Miller in 1942.
He had read about Miller's heroic efforts at Pearl Harbor and was honored to get the chance to talk to him.
"He was quiet, proud, talked softly, talked slowly... you'd have to ask him questions. He wouldn't give you too much information. That's the type of man that he was... a very religious man too," says Sherman.
Miller didn't survive the war-- he died when his ship was torpedoed in the South Pacific in 1943.
To make sure he's remembered, Sherman also wants to build a Doris Miller Memorial in East Waco.
He envisions a two story building with exhibits recounting Miller's life and the lives of other black war heroes, too.
Sherman hopes to collect the signatures by December 7th of this year.