Desmond Doss: The Adventist Conscientious Objector

[Humble Disciple]

Desmond Thomas Doss (February 7, 1919 – March 23, 2006)[1] was a United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with an infantry company in World War II. He was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal for actions in Guam and the Philippines.

Doss further distinguished himself in the Battle of Okinawa by saving 75 men,[a] becoming the only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor for his actions during the war. His life has been the subject of books, the documentary The Conscientious Objector, and the 2016 Oscar-winning film Hacksaw Ridge.

Desmond Doss was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, to William Thomas Doss (1893–1989), a carpenter, and Bertha Edward Doss (née Oliver) (1899–1983), a homemaker and shoe factory worker.[3][4][5] His mother raised him as a devout Seventh-day Adventist and instilled Sabbath-keeping, nonviolence, and a vegetarian lifestyle in his upbringing.[6] He grew up in the Fairview Heights area of Lynchburg, Virginia, alongside his older sister Audrey and younger brother Harold.[5]

Doss attended the Park Avenue Seventh-day Adventist Church school until the eighth grade, and subsequently found a job at the Lynchburg Lumber Company to support his family during the Great Depression.[5]…

Doss refused to kill an enemy soldier or carry a weapon into combat because of his personal beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist.[10] He consequently became a medic assigned to the 2nd Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Doss

Please keep in mind that Anabaptists were influential on early Adventists. There are also contemporary examples of Amish people who converted to Adventism.

[Soloist]

Desmond Thomas Doss (February 7, 1919 – March 23, 2006)[1] was a United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with an infantry company in World War II. He was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal for actions in Guam and the Philippines.

Doss further distinguished himself in the Battle of Okinawa by saving 75 men,[a] becoming the only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor for his actions during the war. His life has been the subject of books, the documentary The Conscientious Objector, and the 2016 Oscar-winning film Hacksaw Ridge.

Thomas W. Bennett and Joseph G. LaPointe also were CO's who were awarded the Medal of Honor.

[Humble Disciple]

Desmond Thomas Doss (February 7, 1919 – March 23, 2006)[1] was a United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with an infantry company in World War II. He was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal for actions in Guam and the Philippines.

Doss further distinguished himself in the Battle of Okinawa by saving 75 men,[a] becoming the only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor for his actions during the war. His life has been the subject of books, the documentary The Conscientious Objector, and the 2016 Oscar-winning film Hacksaw Ridge.

Thomas W. Bennett and Joseph G. LaPointe also were CO's who were awarded the Medal of Honor.

Yes, those are examples from the Vietnam war. Perhaps they should have their own movies too.

[Humble Disciple]

Here is another interesting story:

Barry Clayton Black[1] (born November 1, 1948) is the 62nd chaplain of the United States Senate. He began serving as Senate chaplain on June 27, 2003, becoming the first African American and first Seventh-day Adventist to hold the office. The Senate selected its first chaplain in 1789.
Black served for over 27 years in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps, rising to the rank of rear admiral (upper half) and ending his career as the Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy. He retired from the Navy on August 15, 2003.[2]...

During the 16-day United States federal government shutdown of 2013, Black's invocations began to garner widespread national attention. On October 1, the first day of the shutdown, he prayed for divine guidance to "strengthen our weakness, replacing cynicism with faith and cowardice with courage". On October 3, he prayed, "Save us from the madness. We acknowledge our transgressions, our shortcomings, our smugness, our selfishness and our pride... Deliver us from the hypocrisy of attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable."[3]

During his prayer on October 4, the day after officers from the U.S. Capitol Police shot and killed a woman who had used her car in an attempt to breach federal grounds, Black noted that the officers were not being paid because of the shutdown. Like other government workers, he too was unpaid during the shutdown, saying, "I'm being remunerated from above. And that's pretty special."[4] On the fourth day of the shutdown, he also prayed, of the senators, "Remove from them that stubborn pride which imagines itself to be above and beyond criticism. Forgive them the blunders they have committed."[5]

On day nine, prompted by news of the delay of death benefits for military families, Black prayed, "It's time for our lawmakers to say 'Enough is enough'", and asked that God "cover our shame with the robe of Your righteousness." On day 11, Black prayed to "give our lawmakers the wisdom to distinguish between truth and error... Give them a hatred of all hypocrisy, deceit and shame as they seek to replace them with gentleness, patience and truth."[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Black

[Soloist]

Yes, those are examples from the Vietnam war. Perhaps they should have their own movies too.

I certainly hope not. The one they made was bad enough and was a shameful distortion of his story.

[Humble Disciple]

Yes, those are examples from the Vietnam war. Perhaps they should have their own movies too.

I certainly hope not. The one they made was bad enough and was a shameful distortion of his story.

Hacksaw Ridge was a critically and financially successful movie that revived Mel Gibson's career as a film director. There is a certain thing called artistic license. Can you please explain how the movie was historically inaccurate?

[Wayne in Maine]

I've always wondered if Doss gave he same care to the wounded Japanese soldiers.

[steve-in-kville]

I just realized this morning they made a movies about him.

[Soloist]

I've always wondered if Doss gave he same care to the wounded Japanese soldiers.

I've heard they found American bandages on Japanese but it was never proved. I guess it was considered treason at one point.

Hacksaw Ridge was a critically and financially successful movie that revived Mel Gibson's career as a film director. There is a certain thing called artistic license. Can you please explain how the movie was historically inaccurate?

A defining moment in Desmond's life that perhaps helped to further shape his attitude toward guns and violence happened when he was a boy. His father and uncle were drunk and got into a fight (the movie implies the fight was between Desmond's father and mother). His father pulled a gun on his uncle but his mother stepped in. She called the police and told Desmond to hide the gun. After doing so, young Desmond returned just in time to see his father being loaded into a black police wagon in handcuffs. Desmond believed that his father would've killed his uncle (his mother's brother) if his mother hadn't stepped in. Desmond vowed that would be the last time he ever touched a gun. -The Conscientious Objector Documentary

Anyone sick he'd be there," said his sister. "It was announced on the radio, we didn't have TVs in those days, it was announced there was an accident on Route 29 and they needed some blood right away to save this woman's life. He walked three miles to that hospital and walked three more miles back home after he gave blood. Two days later, a call came back over the radio, they need more blood. There he goes again, walks the three miles, then walks three miles back." In the movie, Desmond is motivated to give blood in order to get to know Dorothy, who works as a nurse, but in real life he met Dorothy Schutte at church. -The Conscientious Objector Documentary

These are the two that really distorts his story but there are many others https://www.historyvshollywood.com/reel ... saw-ridge/

as far as it goes, Mel Gibson is a very bloody director and as Christians we should not be involved in watching a movie to celebrate war.
No one from my church would even hardly be aware the a movie was made, but they would know his story.

[Humble Disciple]

as far as it goes, Mel Gibson is a very bloody director and as Christians we should not be involved in watching a movie to celebrate war.
No one from my church would even hardly be aware the a movie was made, but they would know his story.

Is it celebrating war or showing the reality of war in order to celebrate the heroism of a contentious objector?