Branch: U.S. ARMY | Unit: Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division Action: World War II, Guam, Philippines, and the Battle of Okinawa

Warrior of the Week: Corporal Desmond T. Doss

This week’s Warrior of the Week honors Corporal Desmond T. Doss, a U.S. Army combat medic whose courage during the Battle of Okinawa became one of the most extraordinary stories of heroism in American military history.

Doss entered the Army during World War II and served as a medic with the Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division. A devout Seventh-day Adventist, Doss held a deeply rooted religious conviction against taking human life and refused to carry a weapon. Despite this, he was determined to serve his country and chose to do so by saving lives rather than taking them. His beliefs initially brought ridicule and hostility from some of the men around him, but his actions in combat would ultimately earn their respect.

Doss served with distinction during the campaigns on Guam and Leyte, where his bravery while treating wounded soldiers under fire earned him two Bronze Stars. But it was during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 that Doss performed the actions that would forever define his legacy.

From April 29 to May 21, 1945, Doss and the 307th Infantry fought around the Maeda Escarpment, a roughly 400-foot cliff that American troops came to know as Hacksaw Ridge. During one assault, intense Japanese artillery, mortar, and machine-gun fire devastated the American position and forced much of the battalion to withdraw. Approximately 75 casualties remained on the escarpment.

Doss stayed behind.

Alone and without a weapon, Doss repeatedly entered the fire-swept battlefield to reach the wounded. He treated them, dragged or carried them to the edge of the escarpment, and lowered them down the cliff with a rope to American troops waiting below. He continued for hours until approximately 75 wounded soldiers had been brought to safety.

His heroism continued throughout the battle. Doss exposed himself to rifle and mortar fire to rescue a soldier roughly 200 yards ahead of American lines. Days later, he advanced through grenades to within yards of an enemy-held cave to treat four wounded Americans, making repeated trips under fire to evacuate each of them. On another occasion, he crawled within roughly 25 feet of an enemy position to reach a wounded soldier and carried him approximately 100 yards to safety.

On May 21, Doss was finally seriously wounded when a grenade blast struck his legs. He treated his own wounds and waited approximately five hours for evacuation. While being carried from the battlefield, he saw another soldier who was more severely wounded and gave up his place on the litter so the other man could be evacuated first.

While waiting, Doss was wounded again, suffering a compound fracture to his arm. He used a rifle stock as a makeshift splint and crawled roughly 300 yards across the battlefield until he reached an aid station.

For his actions on Okinawa, Desmond Doss was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman on October 12, 1945. He became the only conscientious objector of World War II to receive the Medal of Honor.

Desmond Doss never carried a weapon into combat. Yet when the men around him needed someone willing to walk back into the fire, he did so again and again.

His story is a reminder that courage is not defined by the weapon in a warrior’s hands, but by what they are willing to risk for the person beside them.

“Dear God, let me get just one more man.”

Desmond T. Doss

February 7, 1919 – March 23, 2006

The National WWII Museum

Desmond Doss

Congressional Medal of Honor Society