Grandma's House

We also learned this week of the death of Desmond T. Doss, Sr., the amazing conscientious objector during World War II who earned a Medal of Honor. Not an easy trick to pull off. He refused to carry a weapon into combat and served as a medic. And here is why President Truman awarded him the Medal of Honor in 1945:

On the island of Okinawa, he carried 75 wounded soldiers through a fire-swept area to the edge of a 400-foot cliff and lowered them to safety, according to his citation.

Later, the medic braved enemy shelling to treat an artillery officer. He also crawled to a wounded soldier who had fallen 25 feet from the enemy's position, rendered aid and carried the man 100 yards to safety while exposed to shooting.

During a night attack, he was seriously wounded in the legs by a grenade, his citation said. Five hours later, others began carrying him to safety, but he saw a more critically injured man and crawled off his stretcher, directing the medics to aid the other wounded man.

While awaiting their return, he was struck again. He bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and crawled 300 yards to an aid station, the citation said.

Amazing, right? Should make all the slackers in the world ashamed of themselves. Oh, by the way, he volunteered to serve in the military as a conscientious objector. Truly a man among men. He stuck to his principles, yet did all he could to support his country in time of war. We need more people like Mr. Doss. Thank you, sir, for your service.