BEDFORD Co., Va. (WSET) — This week marks the 75th anniversary that local World War II hero Desmond Doss saved the lives of nearly 100 men in Japan.
Desmond T. Doss was a United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic in World War II after growing up in Lynchburg.
Doss went into battle unarmed, because his religious beliefs did not allow him to kill.
He saved the lives of his fellow serviceman and his story is one that’s lived all over the country, in the film Hacksaw Ridge which won two Academy awards, and in Lynchburg where he received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions and two historic markers.
One of his historical markers is at Monument Terrace and the other is at the corner of Campbell Avenue and Mosby Street.
On May 4, 1945 during the Battle of Okinawa, Doss helped rescue at least 75 wounded men, including some Japanese soldiers, by lowering them down a cliff and treating their injuries. Doss was presented the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman on October 12, 1945.
His son Desmond Doss Jr. said this was how his father showed love to not just his fellow soldiers, but those they were fighting.
