Chapter VI, Article 25 of the Geneva Convention states: The First Geneva Convention a few years later would codify similar policies regarding medical personnel. In the Civil War, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson set a trend by ordering that all Union medical officers held under his commend be considered noncombatants. The modern combat medic has been considered to have a privileged role on the battlefield. However Doss would soon discover that his principles would be challenged not only by his fellow soldiers, but also by the brutality of the Pacific Theater, where war had no rules. The position Doss held may have been noncombatant in name and theory. Doss would face harassment and persecution for his deeply held religious conviction against violence throughout his training. His position on violence unsurprisingly did not make him popular within the Army. In keeping with his beliefs, Doss refused to carry a weapon. In the Army, Doss would quickly adapt and excel in his role as a combat medic. For the purposes of the draft, he would begrudgingly accept the title of conscientious objector. As such, Doss rejected the alternative service option offered to him and enthusiastically enlisted in the U.S. However he made an important distinction between his personal objection and his support for the war effort, preferring the term “Conscientious Cooperator” for himself. When Doss was called up for the draft in 1942, he made his objection to killing known. It was the first time provisions were made for conscientious objectors in an American war. For conscientious objectors, two main categories could be chosen: I-A-O, available for noncombatant military service, and IV-E, available for assignment to limited “work of national importance”. Selective Service included dozens of classifications, which covered exemptions and alternatives to classification ‘I-A’: “Available for unrestricted military service”. The law, which became effective in September 16, 1940, instituted a peacetime draft for the first time in U.S. Military, Congress passed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. Recognizing the importance of increasing the manpower of the U.S. government was preparing to enter into a total war of unprecedented scale. Desmond Doss.Īs America watched the opening stages of the Second World War unfold, the U.S. Why Desmond Doss Was a Conscientious Objector in World War II Pfc. However, when the United States was thrown into the wars in Europe and the Pacific, Doss’ religious and moral convictions would be put to the test. To Desmond, the encounter was all too reminiscent of Cain and Abel, the biblical story of fratricide.įrom that point onward Desmond Doss grew up to personally object to violence and murder of all kind, to include instances of self-defense, and swore to never hold a weapon again. Bertha Doss stepped in between them and talked Desmond’s father into giving over his gun and surrendering to the police. An argument between Thomas Doss and his brother-in-law escalated when Thomas drew a firearm. The Sixth Commandment, ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ would especially resonate with young Desmond Doss. Component in the beliefs of Seventh Day Adventists is the strict adherence to the Ten Commandments. His mother meanwhile devoutly followed the Seventh Day Adventist faith and had Doss and his two siblings attend church regularly. His father, left devastated by the Great Depression, was not a deeply religious man and drank heavily. Doss’ family was deeply spiritually divided. But who is Desmond Doss? And what makes his story so unique? Before Hacksaw Ridge: A Seventh-Day Adventist Enlistsĭesmond Thomas Doss was born on Februin Lynchburg, Virginia to Thomas and Bertha E. The film, which was met with wide acclaim from critics, tells the incredible true story of Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. “One of the greatest heroes in American history never fired a bullet.” That is the tagline of Director Mel Gibson’s film, Hacksaw Ridge, which opened in theaters November 4, 2016.
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