Pacific Theater Trivia Question

[Canoerebel]

Okay, you experts of all things pertaining to the PTO...here's a trivia question...no using Google or other search engines.

Who was the only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II? During what battle?

[Canoerebel]

[X(]

I don't believe I've ever seen a PTO trivia question post go unanswered for so long!

[stuman]

I vaguely remember that he was a Southerner ( sort of a Sgt York type is why I think I remember ) and it was maybe late war I think. But that is all.

[dude]

He was a medic if I recall.  Don't remember the name.  It was sometime late war though.

[ckammp]

deleted

[Canoerebel]

Both you guys are correct in your recollections, though vague.

He was a medic who was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, spent most of his life in Dade County, Georgia, and passed away in 2006 in Piedmont, Alabama.

He indeed received the Medal for his actions during a late war battle.

So, who is he?

P.S. No cheating with Google. Let's see if any of our cadre comes up with his identity.

P.P.S. This is quite a story. I'll post it here at some point.

[Canoerebel]

Oops, our posts crossed. ckkamp is mostly correct. It was Desmond Doss, a medic with the 77th Infantry. But the Medal of Honor was given for his bravery under fire during one point of the Battle of Okinawa. He was credited with saving the lives of 100 soldiers, though he protested it was no more than 50, so the Army compromised and "settled" for 75. During a battle on some kind of bluff or cliff, a bunch of GIs were wounded and pinned down during a counterattack. During the ensuing night, Doss lowered them by rope about 35 to safety further below. He was wounded multiple times, but survived. President Truman bestowed the Medal of Honor in October 1945.

Doss was a conscientious objector due to his Christian faith. He was a 7th Day Adventist who refused to carry a weapon. He reportedly was verbally abused many times for his pacifist beliefs, but refused various offers or suggestions that he receive an honorable discharge. He insisted on serving at the front, but likewise insisted that he wouldn't carry a weapon.

P.S. How would a conscientous objector have been treated in Germany or Japan? Seriously - don't post guesses. Does anyone know?

[dude]

Ah... that's why I remember it... he was a native Virginian and it was in the Washington Post here.  (Looked it up after you posted the answer... but I won't give away the details.) [:)]

[stuman]

Was he the same guy that stated something to the effect : " don't call me a conscientious objecter, call me a conscientious participant " or some such ?

[Canoerebel]

Here's the citation for Doss' Medal of Honor:

He was a company aid man when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet (120 m) high. As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machinegun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back. Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying them 1 by 1 to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. On May 2, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards (180 m) forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within 8 yards (7.3 m) of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making 4 separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety. On May 5, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small arms fire to assist an artillery officer. He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small arms fire and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet (7.6 m) from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards (91 m) to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire. On May 21, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter; and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. Awaiting the litter bearers' return, he was again struck, by a sniper bullet while being carried off the field by a comrade, this time suffering a compound fracture of 1 arm. With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards (270 m) over rough terrain to the aid station. Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty.