...Outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty.

Desmond Thomas Doss was a special kind of hero: He was a corporal in the United States Army during World War Two and served as a combat medic. For actions in the Philippines and Guam he was awarded two Bronze Star Medals and received the Medal of Honour in the Battle of Okinawa. To put that into perspective the Medal of Honour is the United States' highest personal military decoration awarded to those who have distinguished themselves on the field of battle by acts of valor. Receiving that distinguished medal is in itself remarkable. Corporal Doss was awarded the Medal of Honor for saving 75 men of his unit on Hacksaw Ridge (Okinawa's Maeda Escarpment) whilst under fire and twice wounded himself. Placing himself at great danger with nothing to defend himself he attended to the men of his unit and their horrific wounds with little, or no concern, for his own life. He was on the same battlefield as the other soldiers; The same hell-fire the Japanese hurled at them. He was eventually evacuated with a bullet wound to his shoulder from a sniper's round and with 17 pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body. Image source What makes Corporal Doss even more remarkable was that he was a combat medic and conscientious objector.

Conscientious objector: A person who for reasons of conscience objects to serving in the armed forces.

Now to be clear, Corporal Doss didn't object to serving, he simply objected to bearing arms. He was happy to endure the same conditions as the other soldiers, the same shelling, rifle and machine gun fire. grenades, flame-throwers, bazooka's and Japanese bayonet's as the other men. Rather than taking life, he wanted to save it.

I was going to cut and paste the citation signed by President Harry Truman into this post but didn't want to get flagged for plagiarism so you'll have to follow this link to read the citation: National Archives Catalogue Doss Medal of Honor Citation It's an interesting read of Corporal Doss's deeds and leaves me feeling humbled and deeply respectful of a man who truly put everything on the line for his fellow man.

Further to that citation you can read some additional information about the man himself here. He was a remarkable man, that's for sure. His story was made into a movie directed by Mel Gibson and released in 2016. It's a war movie and is graphic, as war tends to be, however it's a remarkable story and one that serves as an inspiration and indeed a celebration of man's faith and tenacity. Doss believed in his God to guide and deliver him and attributed his super-human deeds to his god; In true selfless and humble style. You can view the movie trailer below and I urge you to see the full film.