Lynchburg History

Desmond T. Doss was born in Lynchburg in 1919 and grew up in the Fairview Heights neighborhood. A Seventh Day Adventist and a pacifist, he was working at the Newport News Shipyard when World War II began. Though eligible for a deferment as a defense industry employee, he reported to the Lynchburg Armory for induction in April 1942 when drafted. As a conscientious objector, he became a medic. During boot camp at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, officers and soldiers mistreated him for his religious beliefs, including observing the Sabbath on Saturday. Doss served in combat on Guam and Leyte and received two Bronze Stars for bravery while treating the wounded. With the 77th Infantry Division during the Battle of Maeda Escarpment on Okinawa, he saved more than 75 men on May 5, 1945, lowering them down a cliff one by one under intense fire with a rope knot he devised. He was wounded several times during the night of May 21-22 and, while being carried from the battlefield on a stretcher, gave up his place to another wounded soldier. On October 12, 1945, President Harry S. Truman awarded Doss the Medal of Honor. He was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor and the only conscientious objector of World War II so honored. When he returned to Lynchburg, thousands attended a parade welcoming him home. He spent six years in hospitals recovering from his wounds. Doss died at his home in Piedmont, Alabama, on March 23, 2006, and was buried in Chattanooga, Tennessee, National Cemetery.

Lynchburg, Virginia · United States