In this statement, 2nd Lieutenant Kenneth L. Phillips describes how Private First Class Desmond Doss gave medical aid to men under “a vicious hail of enemy grenade and motor fire.”
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. He served in a non-combatant role as a medic. He was awarded the Medal of Honor – one of the few conscientious objectors ever to earn the award – for his heroic actions assisting injured soldiers near Urasoe-Mura, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands in April and May of 1945.
