I qoute from "To the last cartridge" by Robert Barr Smith.

"Desmond Doss was an ordinary soldier, a PFC from Lynchburg, VA. He trained as a medic, and was assigned to the U.S. Army's 307th Infantry Regiment. As a medic, he was expected to take chances to help his fellow soldiers: self-denial was simply part of the job. In fact, an unwritten rule in the army made the Silver Star the top award a medic could get.
Until Okinawa.
At the end of April 1945 the 307th was locked in vicious, close-quarters fighting for a four-hundred-foot-high ridgeline called the Maeda Escarpment. It was so sheer that the American Infantry scaled it with ladders and navy cargo nets. They met a brutal fire as they crawled to the top, a hail of metal that struck down some seventy-five Americans, and stopped the attack cold.
Desmond Doss went into action. Moving steadily across the fire-swept escarpment, he methodically carried a man at a time to the edge of the ridge. He got the worst-hurt down the cliff on a litter rigged to ropes, then went back for more.
During the next week the 307th lost the ridgeline to a Japanese night attack, then took it back again the next morning. Doss was in the thick of it again, tending to the wounded and dragging a shot-up soldier two hundred yards in the open to friendly lines. Four times he crawled within twenty-five feet of a fire-spitting Japanese cave, each time dragging a wounded American back to safety.
Doss wasn't through. On the 21st of May he crawled through the darkness in the midst of a wild night battle, treating American wounded in his usual nerveless style. Even when a Japanese grenade filled his legs with iron shards, Doss carried on, dealing with his own wounds rather than call for another medic and expose a buddy to danger.
Five hours of pain later, litter-bearers found Doss and began to work their way to the rear with their uncomplaining load. They did not get far. Caught in a Japanese tank attack, the litter party hit the dirt, and Doss went back to work. Spotting a badly wounded American nearby, Doss dragged himself from the litter and ordered the litter-bearers to take the other man to safety.
While they were gone,Doss was hit again, this time a nasty wound that shattered his arm. Still unwilling to endanger others by calling for help, he somehow managed to splint his own terrible compound fracture with a rifle stock and crawl three hundred yards over rough ground to safety.
Remarkably, Doss, this qiuet, selfless, astonishing man, was not the stuff of which traditional heroes are made. He would not touch a weapon, not even to save his own life. For Doss was a seventh-day adventist, a conscientious objector, whose faith forbade him to kill.
One of the abiding strengths of the United States Army has been it's willingness, in a proper case, to turn a blind eye on rules, unwritten or otherwise. The army did it again for Desmond Doss. It understood high courage, and it knew how to reward.
Desmond Doss got his Congressional Medal of Honor."

That gentlemen, is courage defined!

I salute you Mr. Doss. And I thank you.

To the best of my knowledge Mr. Doss is still alive and he lives in Ga. If you would like to read the official citation as well as see a picture of Desmond Doss, then go to
http://www.armymedicine.army.mil/history/MOH/dossd.htm

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of a true American hero. 57 years ago today....

Chuck

 

Every NAVY barrack is named for a hero of some degree.
Tomorrow, I will bring you the story of "Groschong" Hall.
(NAVAL STATION Norfolk Virginia)

 

I have to say Thank God for people like him and all that have served in the past and all that are serving now.

 

 

He may not consider himself a solider but his deeds and actions demonstrate what a remarkable man he is, more than words can say.

Some men are an inspiration to others and never know the impact they have.

 

It is MEN like Mr. Doss who make me feel guilty for living the life I live, with no more worries than getting away from work in time to coach my son's baseball game.
His truly was our greatest generation! We tend to be a spoiled society. I pray that God will forever keep me grateful for what those before me have done, and that they will know it IS APPRECIATED.
Great post!

Brian A