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Desmond T. Doss

16 quotes

“Blood had run down into the fella's face and eyes. He was laying there just groaning and calling for a medic. I took water from my canteen, got some bandage, and I washed his face. And when that blood was washed from his eyes, his eyes came open. Man, he just lit up. He says, "I thought I was blind." And if I hadn't got anything more out of the war than that smile he gave me, I'd have been well repaid.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Conscientious Objector documentary (2004)
“I was praying the whole time. I just kept praying, "Lord, please help me get one more." When I got this, I said, "Lord, please help me get one more.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Conscientious Objector documentary (2004)
“I was working in Newport News, Virginia, in a shipyard in defense work. I could have been deferred. In fact, my boss even offered to defer me, but I was in good health and I felt like it would be an honor to serve God and country. So, I didn't want to be known as a 4-F so I would rather go in.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I didn't believe in taking a life. I felt like God gave life, it wasn't for me to take. When I was growing up, I was the [unclear] child. My mother had a picture of the Ten Commandments illustrated and showed a picture of Cain, and Cain killed his brother Abel and I wondered how in the world could a brother do such a thing. That had some impression.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I felt it an honor to serve my country, God and country, same as the rest of them. The only thing, I just didn't want to take life. I wanted to save life instead of taking life and for them to look at my records, which they did.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was conscientious and I like to call myself a conscientious cooperator instead of objector because we believe in serving our country in every way possible, same as anyone else. Only thing we didn't want to do is take life, like I mentioned before. God gave life, Christ is our example, I want to be him.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I sincerely believe that all my men prayed with me before. At this same time cause there is no such thing as infidel when you're facing death. I know cause I've had some of the men come to me and ask, pray for me, even though they gave me a hard time in times past. When I finished praying, I went up, push up, I pushed over against these Japanese positions. Got pinned down, we couldn't move. While we were pinned down and couldn't move A company was over to our left and they was supposed to come over to help us, meet us to try and knock these Japanese positions.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had a, I prayed and I'm sure my wife, my mother and a lot others were praying for me. I was trying to take the safest precautions I could, but I felt like my life should be no more important than my buddies. My men reminded me of my family. There's something about combat that actually makes you more closely tied to each other. I think you are almost your own blood kin. Those men trusted me.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The best advice I can give is put your heart and soul into your work. If you like what you're doing, the Lord will bless. I know some thought I was better. Well, I felt like I was. We put our heart and soul into our work. I feel like, especially for the medics, it's the most rewarding work there is. We can't save all but like I told you before about the experience, about the fellow that I took care of that I said I wouldn't give a plug penny for his life.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So, I feel like my work has been rewarding work. I have no regrets. I'm just thankful I had the honor and privilege to serve God and country.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[About a framed poster depicting scenes for each of the Christian Ten Commandments] My dad bought it at an auction for seventy-five cents when they first started housekeeping, and so the picture's over a hundred years old. And when I looked at that picture, I came to the Sixth Commandment, Thou Shalt Not Kill. I wondered, how in the world could a brother do such a thing? It put a horror in my heart of just killin', and as a result I took it personally: 'Desmond, if you love Me, you won't kill.' And He says every man is your brother.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was working as a carpenter in defense work in a shipyard in Newport News, Virginia, and my boss offered me a deferment. But I did not feel it was essential work, so I refused because I was in good health and I did not want to be known as a 4-F or draft dodger, and I felt it was an honor to serve God and country. I didn't feel like I was better than anyone else. I could serve my country for twenty-one dollars a month. That's what we got when we went in. We had a joke in the Army:'You know how much I get? No. Twenty-one dollars a day! What? Yep, once a month.'”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There were one hundred and fifty-five went up and fifty-five got themselves down, so they wanted to say I lowered one hundred, but I refused. They wanted to know how many I took care of. I said, 'I don't know.' I don't see how it could possibly be more than fifty. So they're the ones who changed it from one hundred. I wanted fifty, and they made it seventy-five. I don't want to ever say I took care of seventy-five. All I want to say is I was just thankful that the Lord was able to use me, and forget the number. It's not the number: It's doing the best you can.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And this is another place where we sort of disagree. To sum up my award now, you say I saved a life because I lowered a man down a cliff? That's like you say the operation was a success but the patient died before we could get him sewed up. That's not saving. Of the men I took care of, a number didn't survive. Did you save any, Doss? You didn't save his life; you did the best you could. And that is the reason I don't like it said I saved so many lives, because it couldn't be. I just did the best I could.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And when I was eighteen, in nineteen thirty-seven, I registered, like anyone else, with my draft board in Lynchburg, Virginia. I believed in serving God and country. I took medical training, and I did what I could in preparation for getting into the Medical Corps where I could serve God and country without going against the dictates of my conscience. My pastor, R.F. Woods, went with me. We were Seventh-Day Adventists. I wanted to be known as a noncombatant, but the Army had no such classification. I had to accept Conscientious Objector status or face a court-martial. It meant you were going in with religious scruples. Now, I did not want to be known as a CO because they were refusing to salute the flag or serve the country in any way, shape, or form, and they were having demonstrations. Congress signed into law that COs could not be forced to bear arms. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and George C. Marshall, chief of staff, signed it, showing their approval. Adventists would not volunteer but would wait to be drafted. That's why I didn't go in until April first, nineteen forty-two. In addition to the Sixth Commandment, there was also the Fourth, to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Now, Saturday is the Sabbath to Adventists and they worship on that day and don't work. But, you know, Christ healed on the Sabbath. It's a type of work I could do seven days a week. That's why I wanted to get into the Medical Corps.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Japanese were out to get the medics. To them, the most hated men in our army were the medics and the BAR men, the Browning Automatic Riflemen. They would let anybody get by just to pick us off. They were taught to kill the medics for the reason it broke down the morale of the men, because if the medic was gone they had no one to take care of them. All the medics were armed, except me. There was no evidence but your aid kit to show that you were a medic. Even though I was unarmed, the men wanted to get close to me. I had to shoo them away. They said they felt safer with me. I made it a practice to go on patrol with the men. The non-com [a noncommissioned officer, such as a sergeant] warned me not to, but I told him, it may not be my duty but it was what I believed in. I knew these men; they were my buddies, some had wives and children. If they were hurt, I wanted to be there to take care of them. And when someone got hit, the others would close in around me while I treated him, then we'd all go out together.”
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source