Us Medics

[Footslogger]

Was there a Medic called Desmond? I don't know which island he served on. He would refuse to carry any kind of weapon. Now this guy was a Marine. And why did the Japs target medics over others?

[thegreatwent]

PFC Desmond Doss won the Medal of Honor for rescuing 75 men after they were overrun. He was a Seventh Day Adventist and did not carry a weapon.

Mr. Doss never liked being called a conscientious objector. He preferred the term conscientious cooperator. Raised a Seventh-day Adventist, Mr. Doss did not believe in using a gun or killing because of the sixth commandment which states, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13). Doss was a patriot however, and believed in serving his country.

During World War II, instead of accepting a deferment, Mr. Doss voluntarily joined the Army as a conscientious objector. Assigned to the 307th Infantry Division as a company medic he was harassed and ridiculed for his beliefs, yet he served with distinction and ultimately received the Congressional Medal of Honor on Oct. 12, 1945 for his fearless acts of bravery.

According to his Medal of Honor citation, time after time, Mr. Doss’ fellow soldiers witnessed how unafraid he was for his own safety. He was always willing to go after a wounded fellow, no matter how great the danger. On one occasion in Okinawa, he refused to take cover from enemy fire as he rescued approximately 75 wounded soldiers, carrying them one-by-one and lowering them over the edge of the 400-foot Maeda Escarpment. He did not stop until he had brought everyone to safety nearly 12 hours later.

When Mr. Doss received the Medal of Honor from President Truman, the President told him, “I’m proud of you, you really deserve this. I consider this a greater honor than being President.”

http://chatterbyrondavis.blogspot.com/2 ... -dead.html

[Terminus]

I hope you mean 307th Infantry Regiment, otherwise I have some more OOB research to do...

[thegreatwent]

D'oh, you are correct. I accepted something off a blog without vetting it. Now I have do some digging.

[thegreatwent]

Ok, 307 Inf, 77th Div.

[pasternakski]

ORIGINAL: thegreatwent
I accepted something off a blog without vetting it.

Jeez, dude, be careful out there. A guy I know did that and penicillin only made it worse.

Let's pass along, too, that there is no congressional MoH.

[stuman]

ORIGINAL: pasternakski

ORIGINAL: thegreatwent
I accepted something off a blog without vetting it.

Jeez, dude, be careful out there. A guy I know did that and penicillin only made it worse.

Let's pass along, too, that there is no congressional MoH.

I was waiting for someone to point that out [:)]

[pasternakski]

ORIGINAL: stuman

ORIGINAL: pasternakski

ORIGINAL: thegreatwent
I accepted something off a blog without vetting it.

Jeez, dude, be careful out there. A guy I know did that and penicillin only made it worse.

Let's pass along, too, that there is no congressional MoH.

I was waiting for someone to point that out [:)]

Yah. There are certain forms of VD that will rot yer dinghy hull no matter what drug you take.

Oh. Were you talkin' about the congressional thing?

[thegreatwent]

Gah! I would have been better using Wikipedia[8|]. If anyone has a third strike from my post I'll have recreated my high school baseball career.[:D]

[pasternakski]

ORIGINAL: thegreatwent

Gah! I would have been better using Wikipedia[8|]. If anyone has a third strike from my post I'll have recreated my high school baseball career.[:D]

Should I start on the insipid expression, "Fearless acts of bravery," or just let you drag your bat to the dugout?

[thegreatwent]

Looks like I'm doing the walk of shame back to the dugout.

[bradfordkay]

Dang! I was beginning to look forward to receiving those extra couple of hundred infantry divisions!

Are you sure that you've dug them all up Termie? [:'(]

[Yamato hugger]

About half the medics I knew back in the day (Vietnam) refused to carry weapons.

I was not one of them.

I knew this nurse (captain) that was in charge of the ER at Martin Army hospital (Ft Benning) refused to let a weapon of any kind into her ER. Even the MPs had to disarm before they would be allowed in. I was the NCOIC of the drug overdose center there at the time and the MPs would bring a lot of people in and they either had to wait outside or disarm. No idea what she would have done if anyone refused her, but she was tenacious and adamant about it. A damn good nurse also (and pretty good looking to boot).

[m10bob]

To the original poster, to the best of my knowledge, during WW2 all the medics in Gyrene platoons were Navy corpsmen, and the grunts took good care of them.

U.S. medics worldwide had the option of carrying the M1911a1 as a standard sidearm, and sometimes the carbine was optional, (and was used to hold plasma bottles when the affixed bayonet was planted in the ground.)

[Terminus]

Aren't they still all Corpsmen? Do the Marines have their own medics these days?

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: pasternakski

ORIGINAL: thegreatwent
I accepted something off a blog without vetting it.

Jeez, dude, be careful out there. A guy I know did that and penicillin only made it worse.

Let's pass along, too, that there is no congressional MoH.

Well, actually, there kind of is:
"The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Generally presented to its recipient by the President of the United States of America in the name of Congress, it is often called the Congressional Medal of Honor."

Since it was originally authorized by Congress, and presented in the name of Congress, it can be fairly called the Congressional Medal of Honor, and generally is (hair-splitting smiley needed here [:D].)

[oldman45]

ORIGINAL: Terminus

Aren't they still all Corpsmen? Do the Marines have their own medics these days?

No the Marines get their medics from the Navy.

[YankeeAirRat]

Yes the Marines still get Navy Corpsman