Many hear or see the words “I’m a conscientious objector.” and think of hippies and draft dodgers, and rightly so. But there have been others who could use that phrase with no small honor.<\/p>\n
I was reminded of that today when I stumbled across the name below. I remember reading about him years ago. Reckon maybe others here might not have heard of him?<\/p>\n
Meet Desmond Doss.<\/a><\/p>\n Desmond T. Doss<\/strong> (February 7, 1919\u2013March 23, 2006) was the first conscientious objector<\/a> to receive the Medal of Honor<\/a> and one of only three so honored (the others are Thomas W. Bennett<\/a> and Joseph G. LaPointe, Jr.<\/a>). He was a Corporal<\/a> (Private First Class<\/a> at the time of his Medal of Honor heroics) in the U.S. Army<\/a> assigned to the Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division<\/a>.<\/p>\n Desmond Doss refused to kill, or carry a weapon into combat, because of his personal beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist<\/a>. He thus became a medic<\/a>, and by serving in the Pacific theatre of World War II<\/a> helped his country by saving the lives of his comrades, while also adhering to his religious convictions.\u00a0<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n His Medal of Honor was earned by the risks he took to save the lives of many comrades.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now there is a documentary about him.<\/p>\n