That Others May Live

I believe, in my heart, that every man and woman who believes in, or hopes for, their nation has a duty to serve it somehow. In the community, in the state or at the national level it does not matter so long as it is done: Volunteer librarians and fire-fighters to combat hardened Marines.
I am also a strong believer in fighting - Not that I want to glorify violence or propose it as the solution to every problem, it is most certainly not that, but I think it is a poor sort of person who will not fight for something, who does not believe in something enough to fight for it if necessary.
Show me a conscientious objector and I will claim to show you a cowardly and weak human being. Most of the time my claim will be right - Today I would be wrong.
On Thursday 87 year old Desmond T. Doss Sr. passed away surrounded by family and his pastor in Piedmont, Alabama. He was a Medal of Honor winner and a conscientious objector.
Doss won the MoH for his actions under fire as a medic on Okinawa during World War II. His Medal of Honor Citation is as follows:

The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to

DOSS, DESMOND T.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Urasoe Mura, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 29 April-21 May 1945. Entered service at: Lynchburg, Va. Birth: Lynchburg, Va. G.O. No.: 97, 1 November 1945.
Citation: He was a company aid man when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet high As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machinegun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back. Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying them 1 by 1 to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. On 2 May, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within 8 yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making 4 separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety. On 5 May, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small arms fire to assist an artillery officer. He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small arms fire and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire. On 21 May, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter; and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. Awaiting the litter bearers' return, he was again struck, this time suffering a compound fracture of 1 arm. With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards over rough terrain to the aid station. Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty.

What that doesnt say is that Doss was, in his words, a "conscientious cooperator" because of his faith. As a Seventh-Day Adventist Doss did not believe in killing or harming others, but he still felt the duty to serve his country and the fighting men of the United States Armed Forces.
I do not agree with Mr. Doss's morals, and I have much evidence against them, but unlike many people who are pacifist Desmond Doss did not cower in fear, did not stay at home and fire cheap shots in the press, did not use pacifism as a reason to avoid doing what was right. He stood up and took pride in his nation and his belief at the same time.
For a pacifist he did one hell of a job of fighting, in his own way, for what he believed in and what he knew was right. For that he has my infinite respect.

When I was younger I saw a custom knife made for a member of the United States AirForce elite ParaRescue - It was a deeply hot-blued blade, with an engraving of a pararescueman and the pararescue creed "That Others May Live". It was the most profound of small experiences, and moved me very deeply.
I am not a "people person", I do not like people on whole (the great collected teeming and screaming mass) and I find very little redeeming about them, however in my mind every individual has the chance to prove themselves and to be a positive contribution to their species. The individuals who choose to hold strongly to their goals and dreams, who find something to believe in strong enough to fight for it, who live the human experience for the pleasure of the journey, those individuals are worth putting up with the whole damn lot of people. Everyone has that chance, and that chance, above all else, is worth preserving. That chance, that opportunity, must be given its due in all people. That is a fight all its own, a thread through every battle and every war that has ever been fought.
There is no greater calling in life than that of helping others, working to preserve and encourage that opportunity under the harshest of conditions in the face of the most brutal of failures.
"No greater gift hath a man than this, that he would lay down his life for his brother." John 15:13

To Desmond T. Doss, A Healer, A Warrior - My respect.