Desmond Doss

Born	7 Feb 1919
Died	23 Mar 2006
Country	United States
Category	Ground

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

Desmond T. Doss was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States into a Christian family of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. He was drafted into military service with the United States Army, but his religious belief led him to refuse to kill enemy personnel; in fact, he even refused to carry a weapon. Instead of becoming a typical soldier, the conscientious objector was instead assigned to the Medical Detachment of 307th Infantry Regiment of the US 77th Infantry Division. On 29 Apr 1945, his unit was deployed near Urasoe Mura in Okinawa, Japan. He repeatedly risked his own life in order to give aid to wounded American soldiers. On 2 May, he rescued an injured soldier 180 meters forward of the American front lines while Japanese mortar and small arms fire surrounded him. On 4 May, he made four separate trips, again through enemy fire, so that he could treat and then evacuate four injured Americans from the opening of a Japanese-held cave which the soldiers were attacking. He performed similar actions repeatedly through his service at Okinawa, ending during the night of 21 May after he was seriously injured by small arms fire near Shuri while helping the wounded evacuate behind the front lines. He received the Medal of Honor award on 1 Nov 1945, becoming the first conscientious objector to receive this award. He passed away in Piedmont, Alabama, United States in 2006 and now rests at the National Cemetery in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States.

Source: Wikipedia.

Desmond Doss Timeline

7 Feb 1919	Desmond Doss was born.
23 Mar 2006	Desmond Doss passed away.

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