April 5, 2006

Holy cow, why don't we name a day after this guy?

A man who was a conscientious objector won the Congressional Medal of Honor in World War II.

This story brought out the patriot in me.

"While under enemy fire on the island of Okinawa, Doss carried 75 wounded soldiers to the edge of a 400-foot cliff and lowered them to safety, according to his citation. During a later attack, he was seriously wounded in the legs by a grenade. According to the citation, as he was being carried to safety, he saw a more critically injured man and crawled off his stretcher, directing the medics to help the other wounded man.

"He wanted to serve. He just didn't want to kill anybody," said a veteran who attended the service, Fred Headrick, 85. "Most all of them (Medal of Honor recipients) received their medal for killing someone. He received his by saving lives.""

1 comment:

Dr. Mike Kear said...

The Unlikeliest Hero by Booten Herndon was my favorite book from childhood. I still own the hardcover copy my Dad gave me in the 1960s. Doss was a Seventh-day Adventist who refused to touch a gun because of his personal religious beliefs. He’s the only American to win the nation’s highest honor as a conscientious objector.

Yep, there ought to be a "Doss Day."