Desmond Doss Accomplishments

People that could not serve in WWII were taking their own lives. Desmond T. Doss, despite the ridicule and the hate, stood strong with his beliefs in god and not killing, as the army made constant attempts to wreck his beliefs. At the time, his actions were not accepted, but as a long term effect, his valor and bravery inspired people to be proud of their beliefs, and he will go down forever in history as the first Conscientious Objector to earn the renowned Medal of Honor. Desmond Doss served in many battles. The main battle, and the battle where his most heroic acts took place, was the Battle of Okinawa. The Battle of Okinawa was described as the bloodiest battle in the Pacific Theater. Okinawa was described as a mud pit. One soldier described

First of all, this was a time period when our country’s emotions were all over the place. An unexpected attack had many people lined up and ready to kill some Japs. Some people were physically unable to serve that enlisted, and in some extreme cases, they took their own lives. At this time, everyone was expected to serve and expected to want to take the lives of as many Japanese as possible. Many good people put down their beliefs and picked up their rifles. Desmond Doss, on the other hand, stood strong with his beliefs and believed that he needed to take a stand for himself and God. When Doss first entered the army and became a Conscientious Objector, he was considered a disgrace to the rest of the army. Nobody wanted anything to do with him, and one Commander told Doss he would not go into battle by his side if he did not carry a weapon, but through his heroic acts he was able to take a huge stand that has a lasting impact on

Doss was not respected during his first few deployments because he would take care of people’s feet, because they were so torn up and blistered from being in wet boots. The commanders did not like this. Doss continued taking care of everyone. What made Doss different from everyone was his respect for life. Doss would take care of people that had been left for dead because they were unconscious. He believed that “if there was life then there was hope” and he wanted to give everyone a second chance at life. This thought ended up getting him very highly respected, and this was all before even invading Okinawa. Okinawa was the real test for Doss. The machine gun fire was so thick that he had to crawl around at night from foxhole to foxhole taking care of the men that were still alive. He wasn’t supposed to do that. The Japanese also made it their goal to kill the medics, because if you killed the medics you destroyed the morale of the men. The Japanese would let the infantry men get past just so they could kill the medics. Doss, not carrying a weapon, used faith as his only protection. The most heroic act from Desmond Doss took place on the plateau, called Hacksaw Ridge by the men. The men from his division got up onto the plateau and were wounded by enemy gunfire. Seventy-five men were on the top of the plateau, and Doss felt it was his duty to help his brothers. Doss went back up onto the Ridge, and braved the enemy gunfire to