"He was a company aid man when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet high. As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machine gun
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 all 75 casualties
one-by-one 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 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 eight yards 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 from the
enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards 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 one arm. With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint
and then crawled 300 yards 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."
From PFC Doss' Medal of Honor citation, awarded on November 1, 1945.
Thank you for your service and may you be at peace,
Brian
Told by the man, himself.
"This is Your Life" on Doss.
"Hacksaw Ridge" movie trailer.
"The Unlikeliest Hero" by Booton Herndon
"True Comics" 48 featuring Doss.
"Medal of Honor" Special featuring Doss.
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