The Conscientious Objector

World War 2 was one of the most famous and infamous wars in history. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Holocaust, and the use of the atomic bombs, the war was technically “the war to end all wars”. However, there were very few people that opposed the war effort and one of those objectors was in the United States Army himself and his name was Private Desmond Doss.

A photo of PFC. Desmond Doss. Courtesy of the Medal of Honor Society.

Private Doss was born into a family of Seventh Day Adventists to William Thomas Doss and Bertha E. Oliver Doss. His father, William Thomas Doss, was a veteran of the First World War and refused his sons to join the military, fearing that he will lose them.  But that did not stop him from serving his country. Private Doss enlisted in the Army Medical Corps as a noncombatant. Because of his conscientious objector status and refusal to handle duties on the Saturday Sabbath, he was usually threatened and harassed and many of the other recruits either ridiculed him or wanted him transferred out of their unit.
      Although Private Doss was ridiculed by his training NCO’s, commander, and his fellow peers, he believed that he can contribute to his country even without carrying a single weapon on him.

The real Hacksaw Ridge. Image courtesy of Desmond Doss Council and NPR.

In late April 1945, 26-year old Doss and his battalion, the 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division, were called upon to help fight near Urasoe Mura, Okinawa, in a campaign that would be one of the last and biggest in the Pacific. Using cargo nets, Doss’ battalion was tasked with climbing a treacherous 400-foot high jagged cliff, fittingly nicknamed Hacksaw Ridge. The reason why it earned the bloody nickname is because the Japanese had dug themselves near the plateau and had hidden caves and holes around the area.  About a week into the fight, Doss was the only available medic with the rest of the men, who were close to taking the ridge from the enemy. It was the Sabbath, but he joined his men anyway. The Japanese deployed heavy artillery and other massive firepower. Many who survived the assault retreated, except for Doss, who over a span of several hours, treated wounded men and dragged them to the edge of the cliff and lowered them to safety. After saving many of his comrades, including his captain, he and his company took Hacksaw Ridge away from the Japanese and continued his service as a combat medic until he was shot by a sniper and was taken off the battlefield.

Desmond T. Doss, an extremely committed conscientious objector, was awarded the Medal of Honor for extraordinary feats of valor and compassion during a May 1945 battle of Okinawa, meaning he took none of the Japanese soldiers’ lives but saved at least fifty American lives. Doss’s story has been subjected of two major treatments before Mel Gibson’s 2016 movie Hacksaw Ridge. in the 1967 The Unlikeliest Hero which provides a background to his life before and after the war and tells his wartime experiences and the documentary The Conscientious Objector devotes most of his wartime service. 

       As a recognition for Doss’ heroics on the battlefield, President Harry S. Truman awarded a now Corporal Desmond Doss the Medal of Honor, the highest award and the most honorable for his courage under fire and risking his life for the lives of his fellow soldiers. 

President Harry Truman awards Cpl. Doss with the Medal of Honor. Image Courtesy of the Desmond Doss Council

       This ties in with Gaudium et spes, in which he followed a law that doesn’t impose on himself but rather holds him to obedience. Private Doss exhibited that all life must be loved, even if they were the enemy and avoid evil, in which that killing each other wouldn’t solve anything. His desire to be a medic also further support for the service for his country but choosing a noncombatant role as his choice as a combat medic.

A photo of an elderly Cpl. Doss. Image courtesy of the Desmond Doss Council.

     After the war, Doss moved to Lookout Mountain in northwestern Georgia in the 1950s and built a house in Rising Fawn, a little mountain town with his first wife and their son. He also worked as a Seventh Day Adventist scouting programs and in recognition for his service, a facility in Grand Ledge, Michigan was named after him for those Seventh Day Adventists about to enter the military and follow his example.

Cpl. Doss shaking hands with President Harry Truman. Image courtesy of the Library of Virginia.

Sadly, on March 25, 2006, Corporal Desmond T. Doss passed away at the age of 87. He is survived by his son, Desmond Jr. from his first wife Dorothy, three stepchildren, his brother, Harold, nine step grandchildren, and five step great grandchildren.