THE TERRIBLE STORY OF PRIVATE FIRST CLASS DESMOND T. DOSS OF LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA....

 12th October 1945.

Private First Class Desmond T. Doss of Lynchburg, Virginia, is presented the Medal of Honor for outstanding bravery as a combat medic, the first conscientious objector in American history to receive the nation’s highest military award.

When called on by his country to fight in World War II, Doss, a dedicated pacifist, registered as a conscientious objector. Eventually sent to the Pacific theater of war as a medical corpsman, Doss voluntarily put his life in the utmost peril during the bloody Battle for Okinawa, saving dozens of lives well beyond the call of duty.

During World War II, over 70,000 men were designated conscientious objectors, mostly men whose religious beliefs made them opposed to war. Some refused to serve, but 25,000 joined the US armed forces in noncombat roles such as medics and chaplains. Desmond T. Doss of Lynchburg, Virginia, was one of those men, though he personally shunned the title of conscientious objector.

Doss, born in 1919, was raised with a strong belief in the Bible and the Ten Commandments, attending a Seventh-day Adventist church. He held particularly strong views against killing and working on the sabbath, which as a Seventh-day Adventist, he observed on Saturday. When the United States entered the war, Doss was working at the Newport News Naval Shipyard. It would have been easy in 1942 for Doss to apply for a deferment, and many would have expected as much from someone who refused to bear arms against another. Doss, however, felt a calling to serve his country and to help his fellow man. When he was drafted in the spring of 1942, Doss did not refuse enlistment on the grounds of being a conscientious objector. In fact, he believed the war was just and desired to do his part, but for him that meant saving lives, not taking them, and thus Doss was known to describe himself as a “conscientious cooperator.”


Although Doss was a willing participant and felt himself to have as great a sense of duty as any man in his unit, boot camp was not an easy time for him. He was verbally harassed, with warnings such as, “Doss, when we get into combat, I’ll make sure you don’t come back alive.” Boots and other items were sent flying his way as he prayed at night. Ostracized by his unit, and bullied by both enlisted men and his commanding officers, Doss held on to his faith and was an exemplary soldier.

Several attempts were made to remove the man they felt was a coward and a detriment to the unit. His commanding officers attempted to have him discharged for mental illness, but he refused to accept, stating he could not agree to a discharge due to his religion.


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