Medal of Honor Recipient Desmond Doss Buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery-- Part 2

While serving with his platoon in 1944 in Guam and the Philippines, he was awarded two Bronze Star Medals with a "V" Device for exceptional valor while aiding wounded soldiers under fire.

But it was his action at Okinawa that earned him his highest praise.  Again, while under fire, he saved the lives of 50-100 wounded Americans atop an area known as the Maeda Escarpment, but called Hacksaw Ridge by Americans.  (Hence the movie title.)

Doss suffered a left arm fracture from a sniper's bullet while being carried back to Allied lines, one of four wounds he suffered in this action.  At one point he had seventeen pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body from stepping on a grenade.

For his actions there, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Quite the Hero.  --GreGen

Medal of Honor Recipient Desmond Doss Buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery (from Movie 'Hacksaw Ridge')-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

Desmond Thomas Doss (February 7, 1919-March 23, 2006)

United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with the infantry.  he was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal  for actions in Guam and the Philippines.

Doss further distinguished himself by saving the lives of 75 men at the Battle of Okinawa.  He is the only conscientious objector in history to receive the medal of Honor.  His life has been the subject of books, a documentary and the 2016 Oscar-winning film "Hacksaw Ridge."

He was from Lynchburg, Virginia, and was a devout Seventh-day Adventist who are firm believers in  nonviolence.

Before the outbreak of the war, he was employed as a joiner at a shipyard in Newport News, Virginia,.  he chose military service, despite being offered a deferment because of his shipyard service.  

He was sent to Fort Jackson in South Carolina for training with the reactivated 77th Infantry Division.  Meanwhile, his brother served aboard the USS Lindsey.

Doss refused to kill an enemy soldier or carry a gun dur to his Seventh-day Adventist beliefs.  He consequently became a medic to the 2nd Platoon, Co. B, 1st Battalion, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division.

--GreGen

Chattanooga National Cemetery-- Part 2: Notable Internments

Notable Internments:

8 bodies of the Famed Andrews' Raiders from the Civil War, including James J. Andrews, the leader of the raid.

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3, now 4, Medal of Honor recipients:

Master Sgt.  Ray E. Duke from the Korean War

Corporal Desmond Doss, World War II.  The first conscientious objector.  The 2016 movie "Hacksaw Ridge" was about his life.

Private  William F. Zion, Boxer Rebellion

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Two Union generals from the Civil War:

William P. Sanders

Timothy Robbins Stanley

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186  foreign prisoners from World War I and World War II

One Canadian soldier from World War I

--GreGen