Corporal Desmond Thomas Doss, A Soldier's Story
Corporal Desmond Thomas Doss, A Soldier's Story
Desmond Thomas Doss was born on February 7, 1919, in Lynchburg. Raised in a devout Seventh-day Adventist household, Doss’s faith shaped both his moral compass and the convictions that would later define his military service. He attended Park Avenue Seventh-day Adventist School but left after grammar school to work at a lumber company, helping support his family during the hardships of the Great Depression. He later relocated to Newport News, Virginia, where he worked as a joiner at the naval shipyard.
On April 1, 1942, in response to World War II, Doss enlisted in the United States Army. He trained as a combat medic and was assigned to the 77th Infantry Division. From the beginning, his service was marked by friction. As a practicing Seventh-day Adventist, Doss refused to carry a weapon, believing it incompatible with his faith. He did not refuse to serve, only to kill.
That distinction was not easily accepted. His fellow soldiers questioned his presence, some believing his stance endangered the unit. Doss endured ridicule, isolation, and threats of court-martial, yet he remained steadfast, insisting he would serve his country by saving lives rather than taking them.
In 1944, perceptions began to change. During the brutal campaigns on Guam and in the Philippines, Doss repeatedly placed himself under enemy fire to treat and evacuate wounded men. His actions earned him two Bronze Stars for valor and proved that his convictions did not diminish his courage, they sharpened it.
In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, Corporal Doss would perform the actions for which he is forever remembered. Serving on the Maeda Escarpment, later known as Hacksaw Ridge, he remained on the battlefield after his unit was ordered to retreat. Alone and under relentless fire, Doss located wounded soldiers across the ridge, treating them where they lay and lowering them to safety by rope and cargo net.
Over the course of that engagement, he saved at least seventy-five men. Even after being wounded multiple times, Doss continued his work. At one point, he kicked a live grenade away from a wounded soldier, absorbing the blast himself. His prayer, repeated again and again—“Lord, please let me get one more”—became the quiet refrain of one of the most extraordinary acts of battlefield mercy in American military history.
Corporal Doss was evacuated on May 21, 1945. For his actions on Okinawa, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, becoming the first conscientious objector to receive the nation’s highest military decoration.
After the war, Doss settled in Rising Fawn, Georgia, where he lived a quiet life on a small farm. The physical cost of his service was immense. In addition to multiple combat wounds, he contracted tuberculosis during his recovery, ultimately losing five ribs and one lung. His health struggles would follow him for decades.
Doss later retired to Piedmont, Alabama. He died on March 23, 2006, at the age of eighty-seven. He is buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery.
Corporal Desmond Doss’s legacy stands as a reminder that heroism is not bound to the force of arms. His courage was expressed through conviction, endurance, and an unyielding commitment to preserve life, again and again, one more time.
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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
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