Friday’s weekly Support the Troops Rally at Monument Terrace had a special meaning, as the Lynchburg Area Veterans Council celebrated the city’s fourth annual Desmond T. Doss Day.
In 2019, then-Mayor Treney Tweedy declared every Oct. 12 going forward would be celebrated as Desmond T. Doss Day in Lynchburg, honoring Doss’ heroic efforts during World War II when he saved at least 75 lives during the Battle of Hacksaw Ridge in Okinawa.
Thomas Current, the president of the veterans council, said the council wanted to wait until its regular Friday rally — the 1,089th week in a row at Monument Terrace — because he wanted to celebrate with the people who “appreciate and understand the sacrifice he made and his character.”
Doss, a Lynchburg resident, was a conscientious objector due to his faith as a Seventh-day Adventist, so he became a medic for the U.S. Army. For his work as a medic, Doss was awarded the Medal of Honor.
The Oct. 12 date for the celebration of Doss is significant because that is when President Harry S. Truman bestowed the Medal of Honor upon Doss in 1945.
Doss’ story was famously portrayed in the two-time Academy Award-winning film “Hacksaw Ridge,” directed by Mel Gibson.
Ward II Lynchburg City Councilman Sterling Wilder, who represents the area where Doss’ Garfield Avenue childhood home still stands, read the 2019 proclamation from Tweedy, and said after that, even today, people in Lynchburg can learn from the way Doss lived his life.
“Every time I hear the story about what he did for our country, saving so many lives, it takes my breath away,” Wilder said.
Wilder mentioned the positivity of Doss’ story, and his mantra of “just one more” — where he was just focused on saving the next person at Hacksaw Ridge — as a mentality that society can adopt today.
“Like he said, ‘just one more,’ every one of us needs to have that compassion for mankind,” Wilder said. “To help one more veteran, one more person from suicide, one more person from poverty, or homelessness.
“Whatever we can do in our own lane to try to help one more person, we can make this world a better place,” Wilder said.
Current said in the past, Doss’ son, Desmond Doss Jr., has attended the festivities but was unable to this year. He said the council hopes to have him come back in future years.
Doss’ mantra of “just one more” has been adopted by the veterans council as a charge for what they want to do for veterans in need, Current said during the ceremony.
The veterans council has played a role in helping veterans in the city already, providing housing for homeless veterans at Doss’ childhood home.
At the foot of the Monument Terrace steps, with dozens of veterans, city leaders and Lynchburg residents listening, Current urged the crowd to “live like Doss.”
Holding up a wristband with “just one more” inscribed on it, Current said, “Let me help one more veteran. Let me prevent one more suicide. Let me help one more person.”
