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Home Front: WoT

Famed conscientious objector Doss dies

2006-03-24

CALHOUN, Ga. -- Desmond T. Doss Sr., a conscientious objector whose achievements as a noncombatant earned him a Medal of Honor in World War II, died Thursday. He was 87. His death was announced by Seventh-day Adventist Church officials in Calhoun, near where he lived for many years. Doss died Thursday in Piedmont, Ala., where he and his wife had been staying with her family, said Pastor John Swafford. Doss, who refused to carry a weapon during his wartime service as a medic, was the subject of a book, "The Unlikeliest Hero," and a 2004 documentary, "The Conscientious Objector." He was invited to the White House in October 1945 to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, from President Truman for his bravery in April and May that year.

On the island of Okinawa, he carried 75 wounded soldiers through a fire-swept area to the edge of a 400-foot cliff and lowered them to safety, according to his citation. Later, the medic braved enemy shelling to treat an artillery officer. He also crawled to a wounded soldier who had fallen 25 feet from the enemy's position, rendered aid and carried the man 100 yards to safety while exposed to shooting.

During a night attack, he was seriously wounded in the legs by a grenade, his citation said. Five hours later, others began carrying him to safety, but he saw a more critically injured man and crawled off his stretcher, directing the medics to aid the other wounded man. While awaiting their return, he was struck again. He bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and crawled 300 yards to an aid station, the citation said.

Doss "voluntarily joined the Army as a conscientious objector," church officials said in a statement. "He was harassed and ridiculed for his beliefs, yet he served with distinction. "Doss never liked being called a conscientious objector," the statement said. "He preferred the term conscientious cooperator."

Now this is a real hero who stood by his beliefs and still served his country and his fellow soldiers. Thank you sir and God be with you.

A statue of Doss was placed on July 4, 2004, in the National Museum of Patriotism in Atlanta.

Posted by:Steve

#10 reasonable reservations - committment made and, should we say, overachieved a little? What a hero and stud - an admirable character regardless of your position on the violence. Right hand of God/Jesus in my view of heaven.

Posted by: Frank G 2006-03-24 23:13

#9 I lived in that area of Georgia for several years and met Mr. Doss in Church several times.

Like Mr. Doss, I was born and raised a Seventh Day Adventist. I was a teenager during the Vietnam war, and the Church gave us the following counsel:

1. Do not volunteer: you will be obligated to carry arms by doing so, and the Church cannot help you in any way.

2. When Drafted, apply for 1AO, not 1O status. 1AO allows you to support direct military operations, such a a front-line medic, as was Mr. Doss. 1O status means you object to even indirect support of the war effort. A 1O says, "I won't have anything to do with this dirty war," while a 1A0 says, "There are some things I cannot do in good conscience, but there are things I can, and will, do that will help the war effort." Almost all became medics, like Mr. Doss, and the Church actually cooperated with the Pentagon in setting up pre-draft boot-camps so that the option of making an Adventist a medic was more attractive to the Pentagon.

3. If there is a situation where you decide, despite your intentions, that you must pick up a weapon and shoot the enemy, the Church WILL NOT SECOND GUESS YOU. In times like that, they realize that you cannot be accoutable to anyone else but God and your guts, and so refuse to be a judge in that matter.

I eventually left for doctrinal reasons, and in retrospect, I do not think I would have grown spritually if I had remained. But they laid a good foundation, and there should be no doubt that they are patriots.

Rest in peace, Mr. Doss. However, if he DOES show up at the pearly gates, given the beliefs Adventists teach, he's bound to be more than a little put out. ;)

Posted by: Ptah 2006-03-24 22:55

#8 The 77th also fought on Guam, and helped liberate camps set up by the Japanese to hold local Chamorros-Guamanians - according to the local beliefs of many elderly survivors, the Japanese ultimately intended to kill all of those held in these camps. Several groups were misled by the Japanese to travel to selected areas around Guam for work detail or other where they ended up being abused and later massacred.

Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-03-24 22:51

#7 Wow! Not many who can demonstrate their faith in their God or in statistics so forcefully!

Posted by: trailing wife 2006-03-24 13:33

#6 Big brass ones, baby.

Posted by: mojo 2006-03-24 10:46

#5 I always considered his story to be one of the most inspiring in the annals of American military history.

Posted by: Penguin 2006-03-24 10:45

#4 His life should be a lesson to all these so called "Peace" protestors.

There is a way to support the troops and not carry a weapon against the enemies.

Posted by: OldSpook 2006-03-24 09:36

#3 Here's a full-length account of his bravery:

http://www.homeofheroes.com/profiles/profiles_doss.html

Posted by: Ernest Brown 2006-03-24 09:30

#2 Here's the official MOH citation:

Citation: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. He was a company aid man when the lst Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet high. As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machinegun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back. Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying them 1 by 1 to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. On 2 May, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within 8 yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making 4 separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety. On 5 May, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small arms fire to assist an artillery officer. He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small arms fire and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire. On 21 May, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter; and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. Awaiting the litter bearers' return, he was again struck, this time suffering a compound fracture of 1 arm. With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards over rough terrain to the aid station. Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty.

Posted by: Ernest Brown 2006-03-24 09:28

#1 Now this is a real hero who stood by his beliefs and still served his country and his fellow soldiers.

Very true. This guy proved you can stand up for your beliefs, help out your fellow man and be patriotic at the same time. Rest in peace. We need more people like that.

Posted by: DarthVader 2006-03-24 09:22

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