|
|
|
||
Desmond Thomas Doss |
||||
Engagements: • World War II (1941 - 1945) |
||||
Biography: | ||||
Desmond T. Doss Corporal Desmond T. Doss (7 February 1919 - 23 March 2006) was the first conscientious objector (he detested that phrase, preferring "conscientious cooperator") to receive the Medal of Honor and one of only three so honored. (The others are Thomas W. Bennett and Joseph G. LaPointe, Jr.) Desmond T. Doss was born on 7 February 1919 in Lynchburg, VA. He also entered the U.S. Army from Lynchburg. Because of his personal beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist, Doss refused to learn to shoot a rifle or carry a weapon into combat. He became a medic and his service in the Pacific Theatre of World War II helped save the lives of his comrades, while still adhering to his religious convictions. He was a Corporal (Private First Class at the time of his Medal of Honor heroics) in the U.S. Army assigned to the Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. Medals, Awards and Badges Medal of Honor Medal of Honor Citation He was a company aid man when the 1st 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. Corporal Desmond T. Doss received his Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman on 11 November 1945. Honors • He was a resident of Lynchburg, VA, for which a portion of US Route 501 near Peaks View Park is named in his honor. Local veterans of the area still honor this hero by decorating the signs marking this portion of road several times during the year, particularly around patriotic holidays and especially, Memorial Day. Other Honors • On 18 February 1959, Doss appeared on the Ralph Edwards NBC TV show "This Is Your Life." Death and Burial Corporal Desmond T. Doss died on 23 March 2006. He is buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, TN. On the same day Doss died, U.S. Army Medic David Bleak also died. Bleak was the last surviving medic Medal of Honor recipient of the Korean War. |
||||
Honoree ID: 1370 | Created by: MHOH |