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Desmond Thomas Doss, Sr. (7 February 1919 – 23 March 2006) was a United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with an infantry company in World War II. He was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal for actions during the Battle of Guam and Leyte in the Philippines. Doss further distinguished himself in the Battle of Okinawa by saving 75 men, becoming the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor for his actions during the war.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Doss was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, to William Thomas Doss, a World War 1 veteran and carpenter, and Bertha Edward Doss, a homemaker and shoe factory worker. His mother raised him as a devout Seventh-day Adventist and instilled Sabbath-keeping, nonviolence, and a vegetarian lifestyle in his upbringing. He grew up in the Fairview Heights area of Lynchburg, Virginia, alongside his older sister Audrey and younger brother Harold. In 1929, he nearly kills his brother during roughhousing. That event and his Seventh-day Adventist upbringing reinforce Desmond's belief in the commandment "Thou shalt not kill." During the Great Depression, Doss attended the Park Avenue Seventh-day Adventist Church school until the eighth grade, and subsequently found a job at the Lynchburg Lumber Company to support his family. In 1941, Doss met Dorothy Schutte on their seventh and the two felt in love, however the two were separated for a short time before reuniting again when Doss takes an injured man to the hospital and meets Dorothy as a part time nurse. They strike a romance, and Doss tells Dorothy of his interest in medical work.

Interwar[]

Before the outbreak of World War II, Doss was employed as a joiner at a shipyard in Newport News, Virginia. He chose military service, despite being offered a deferment because of his shipyard work and as a result he enlists in the United States Army on April 1, 1942, at Camp Lee, Virginia. He was sent to Fort Jackson in South Carolina for training with the reactivated 77th Infantry Division. Meanwhile, Harold joined the United States Navy and served aboard the USS Lindsey.

Boot camp[]

When Desmond placed in basic training to Fort Jackson, he met Clearance Glenn and Randell Fuller and the three became under the command of Sergeant Howell. He excels physically but becomes a pariah among his fellow soldiers for refusing to handle a rifle and train on Saturdays. Howell and Captain Jack Glover attempt to discharge Doss for psychiatric reasons under Section 8 but are overruled, as Doss's religious beliefs do not constitute mental illness. They subsequently torment Doss by putting him through grueling labor, intending to get Doss to leave of his own accord. Despite being beaten one night by his fellow soldiers; he mercifully refuses to identify his attackers and continues training. When Doss's unit completes basic training and is released on leave during which Doss intends to marry Dorothy, but his refusal to carry a firearm leads to an arrest for insubordination but before he was sent to jail, he manages to marry Dorothy and see his brother before was deployed on the Lindsey on August 17, 1942. Glover and Dorothy visit Doss in jail and try to convince him to plead guilty so that he can be released without charge, but Doss refuses to compromise his beliefs.

The trial[]

At his court-martial, Doss pleads not guilty, but before he is sentenced, his father barges into the tribunal with a letter by having contacted with the chairman of the church's War Service Commission in Washington, Carlyle B. Haynes. The charges against Doss are dropped and he was given a 3-day pass to go home and see Harold before he returned to the Navy to go overseas.

The Pacific[]

In 1944, Doss shipped out, bound for the Pacific as a member of the medical detachment of the 307th Infantry Regiment, US 77th Infantry Division. Although Doss would become known for his actions on Okinawa, the bloody battle there was not his first. The 77th landed in Guam in July 1944. The men who had threatened to kill Doss in boot camp quickly realized the value of his bravery by saving wounded men under fire, he was awarded a Bronze Star for valor. After Guam, the 307th fought at Leyte. Again, Doss showed his dedication to his comrades and bravery in combat and was awarded a second Bronze Star, but as a result Glenn was shot and killed by a imperial Japanese machine gunner, this caused doss to not look at wounded or dead soldiers.

Hacksaw Ridge[]

On April 29, 1945, the 307th Infantry Regiment moved into the line on Okinawa, During the Battle, Doss's unit is informed that it will relieve the US 96th Infantry Division, which was tasked with ascending and securing the Escarpment called the Maeda Escarpment aka "Hacksaw Ridge". The Japanese had spent years entrenching their soldiers, creating a maze of tunnels in the hill. After A Company’s near annihilation in taking the escarpment, the remainder of A Company, plus B Company, of which Doss was a part, climbed cargo nets to the top on May 2, 1945. The escarpment where the men were fighting was a cliff roughly 400 feet high. The top 35 feet created an overhang, where the cargo nets had been necessary for the men to reach the top. During the fight, both sides were suffered heavy losses on the needle rock, Doss saves the life of his squad mate Corporal Smitty Ryder who served with him since boot camp, earning his respect. As the Americans camp for the night, Doss reveals to Smitty that when his was little his father and uncle was having a fight and his father point a gun at his uncle but his mother in the middle of this fight and convince his father to give the gun. Then when he was older, wrestles his dad and holding a firearm stem from nearly shooting his drunken father, who threatened his mother with a gun. Smitty apologizes for doubting his courage all those years ago, and both reconcile.

Staying behind[]

By May 5, the fighting intensified to the point that all men were ordered to retreat after a group of soldiers blew up a cave filled with ammo, thus the Japanese launched a massive counterattack and drove the Americans off the escarpment. Smitty is killed, and Howell and several of Doss's comrades are left injured on the battlefield.  Doss refused to retreat and returned to save as many wounded as he could, by carrying them to the cliff's edge and belaying them down by rope, each time praying to save one more. Doss successfully rescued 75 men trapped at the top of the escarpment by lowering them with a special knot he knew. He had miraculously not been wounded and stayed in the fight with B Company. When day breaks, Doss rescues Howell, and both escape Hacksaw under enemy fire.

One final push[]

After three weeks of going back and forth on the escarpment, Glover apologizes after three years of dismissing Doss's beliefs as "cowardice" and states that they are scheduled to retake the ridge on Saturday but will not launch the next attack without him. Doss agrees, but the operation is delayed until after he concludes his Sabbath prayers. On May 21, the 77th finally turn the tide of battle but in an ambush set by Japanese soldiers who pretend to surrender, Doss manages to save Glover and others by deflecting enemy grenades. Doss is wounded by a grenade blast and was carrying by the stretcher but given it up for another soldier and saved another one who was pinned by a Type 97 medium tank Chi-Ha but the battle is won. Doss is lowered from the cliff clutching the Bible that Dorothy had given to him. He was evacuated on May 21, 1945, aboard the USS Mercy. Doss suffered a left arm fracture from a sniper's bullet while being carried back to Allied lines and at one point had seventeen pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body after a failed attempt at kicking a grenade away from him and his men.

Medal of Honor[]

On October 12, 1945, President Harry S. Truman presented Doss with the Medal of Honor in a ceremony on the White House lawn. Truman shook Doss’s hand and told him that he proud of Doss. and he deserve this. and he consider this a greater honor than being president. In that Doss was the first and only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II.

Returning home[]

After returning home, in 1946 Doss and Dorothy had a son named had one child, Desmond "Tommy" Doss Jr, and at the same time, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which he had contracted on Leyte. He underwent treatment for five and a half years and cost him a lung and five ribs before being discharged from the hospital in August 1951 with 90% disability. He continued to receive treatment from the military, but after an overdose of antibiotics rendered him completely deaf in 1976, he was given 100% disability; he was able to regain his hearing after receiving a cochlear implant in 1988. Despite the severity of his injuries, Doss managed to raise a family on a small farm in Rising Fawn, Georgia.

Death[]

Doss died on March 23, 2006, at his home in Piedmont, Alabama. He was buried on April 3, 2006, in the National Cemetery in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Gallery[]

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