Skip to content
Desmond Doss

File:DossDesmondT_USArmy.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ5264703· pop 47· linked from 82 articles

Desmond Doss

Sign in to save

American solder, pacifist, and combat medic; recipient of the Purple Heart medal, recipient of the Medal of Honor (1919–2007)

Film & TV

Acting

Known for

  • The Conscientious Objector — Himself2004

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Country
US
Active from
1990

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
10
Total plays
10

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Desmond+Doss">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · Desmond Doss

Quotes

  • I was working in Newport News, Virginia, in a shipyard in defense work. I could have been deferred. In fact, my boss even offered to defer me, but I was in good health and I felt like it would be an honor to serve God and country. So, I didn't want to be known as a 4-F so I would rather go in.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born
Desmond Thomas Doss , ( 1919-02-07 ) February 7, 1919, Lynchburg, Virginia , U.S.
Died
March 23, 2006 (2006-03-23) (aged 87), Piedmont, Alabama , U.S.
Buried
Chattanooga National Cemetery , Chattanooga, Tennessee
Allegiance
United States of America
Branch
United States Army
Service years
1942–1946
Rank
Corporal
Unit
Company B, 1st Battalion, 307th Infantry Regiment , 77th Infantry Division
Conflicts
World War II Pacific War Battle of Guam Battle of Leyte Battle of Okinawa ( Wounded in action</span>"}]]}'>WIA )
Awards
Medal of Honor , Bronze Star Medal (2), Purple Heart (3)
Spouses
Dorothy Schutte ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1942 ; died 1991 ) ​ Frances Duman ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1993 ) ​

via Wikipedia infobox

~15 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Desmond Thomas Doss (February 7, 1919 – March 23, 2006) was a United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with an infantry company in World War II. Due to his religious beliefs, he refused to carry a weapon.

He was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal for actions on Guam and in the Philippines. Doss further distinguished himself in the Battle of Okinawa by saving an estimated 75 men, acting on his own, becoming the first of only three conscientious objectors to receive the Medal of Honor for this and other actions, the others being Thomas W. Bennett and Joseph G. LaPointe Jr., who were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Desmond Doss” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (10)