by Ian Doescher
Because this is Memorial Day weekend, here's a story about peace. My friend Ken, the pastor of Tualatin Presbyterian Church, passed this story on to me, the story of a man named Desmond Doss. Have you heard of Desmond Doss? He was a Seventh-Day Adventist and an avowed pacifist who, after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, joined up with the army because he felt he should serve his country. However, he refused to carry a gun. He was mocked, ridiculed and even threatened by his fellow soldiers, and was brought up on formal charges by an officer. But it was determined that just because he wouldn’t carry a gun didn’t make Desmond unfit for service. Desmond became a medic, a medic who did not carry a gun. And though he himself was peaceful, he saw more than his share of violent action. In a battle in Okinawa, in which American soldiers were trying to take a certain ridge that overlooked the island, the Americans were routed and beat into retreat, but not Desmond. You see, 75 men were already wounded up there, so Desmond stayed and served them. One of the men he treated was the same officer who had brought him up on formal charges.
Desmond’s story is the story of a man who knows in the core of his being what the peace of the Holy Spirit means, a man who lived that peace courageously and boldly, helping people understand what it means to be both a patriot and a pacifist. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the first and only conscientious objector to have received that commendation. Desmond says he doesn’t like that term “conscientious objector,” though. He refers to himself as a “conscientious cooperator” -- a term that has been adopted by his denomination, the Seventh-Day Adventists. What a great way for us to envision our lives as Christians, surrounded by the Spirit whom Jesus promised to send to us: you, me, all of us, conscientious cooperators.
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