First Lieutenant Cecil L. Gornto submitted this statement describing the heroic action of Private First Class Desmond Doss, a medic with Gornto’s platoon. Gornto’s statement, and others like it, supported awarding Doss the Medal of Honor.
Doss was a conscientious objector during World War II. He entered the military, but refused to kill enemy soldiers or carry a weapon because of his religious beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist. As a medic, he served in a non-combatant role. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1945 – one of the few conscientious objectors ever to earn the award – for his heroic action assisting injured soldiers near Urasoe-Mura, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands.
