Desmond Doss, R.I.P.

A message to our armed forces: You don't have to kill people to be a hero.

Desmond Doss, a Christian pacifist who received the Medal of Honor for his heroics as an Army medic on Okinawa in World War II, died yesterday at his home in Piedmont, Ala. He was 87.

...In the Army, Mr. Doss was at times threatened with disciplinary action for refusing to carry a firearm. But on May 5, 1945, he braved enemy fire to rescue an estimated 75 wounded soldiers.

He was the only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II.

"We will be eternally grateful to the service Mr. Doss rendered to this nation," Army spokesman Maj. Sheldon Smith said yesterday. "There are probably few who appreciated life and freedom more than he did. ... Private First Class Desmond T. Doss was an American hero in the truest sense."