A True Hero

We just finished watching The Conscientious Objector, an amazing documentary about a real American hero who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Desmond Doss was a quiet, frail, unassuming Christian who took God's command not to kill so seriously that he refused to carry or even touch a gun during World War II. He held firm to his beliefs even under pressure and harrassment. It's an incredible story!

The movie follows his life through his letters home, archival photos and video clips and moving interviews with him as well as some of those with whom he served--men who had first ridiculed him but later came to respect him--and whose very lives he ended up saving. Under heavy enemy fire, Doss single-handedly rescued 75 (or more!) injured men and lowered them to safety over a high, steep escarpment.


When Harry S. Truman awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor, he said that meeting Doss was a bigger honor than being president.

Listening to these old soldiers talk about their experiences during the war was very, very moving. It made me wish I'd asked my father more about his experiences serving as an Army Medic in Italy and North Africa during WWII. I think I'd have been more grateful and more understanding of his post traumatic stress behaviors.

This documentary also made me hunger for the deep faith in God--no matter what--that Desmond Doss had.