LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — On Friday veterans, The USS Belknap Association and people from the Lynchburg community came together to honor Desmond T. Doss, a United States World War II Army Corporal from the city.
On October 12, 1945, President Harry Truman awarded Doss with a medal of honor, but his medal of honor was special and unlike anyone else’s.
His says: “Far above and beyond the call of duty.”
Due to religious beliefs, the hero refused to train with weapons or use them during the war. Instead, he was a medic and saved the lives of around 75 U.S soldiers during Okinawa, one of the bloodiest battles ofWorld War II.
Student likely crushed in trash truck, incinerated after passing out in garbage: police
“He had a deferment, didn’t have to go. He said, ‘No, I’m going, I’m gonna be a medic. I’m not gonna touch a weapon because I follow the sixth commandment, thou shall not kill. But I’m gonna go, I’m gonna serve my country,'” said Thomas Current, the president of the Lynchburg Veterans Council.
A bill to rename the Lynchburg VA clinic after Doss passed unanimously in the U.S Senate. Now it waits for approval from the House of Representatives.
by Brigette Kelly
