Memorial Day: Remember Desmond T. Doss

Desmond T. Doss

Honor those who have fallen for the freedoms we enjoy.

Today I have not posted a story of a KIA. I decided to post the story of Desmond T. Doss, an eccentric Army medic who was told by his C.O. and many from his company to stay away from them in battle since he wouldn’t carry a rifle or gun for religious reasons. This was after they tried to kick him out of the military for being “unstable” and an unfit soldier. Before the end of the battle of Okinawa he would save that same man’s life along with 75 others and he was the man they wanted to see alongside them.

One promised Doss, and not in jest, that when the soldiers faced the inevitable combat with the enemy, “I’ll kill you myself.” Doss didn’t doubt him. That first taste of combat came at Guam, where Doss began to prove his courage in going to any length to treat and care for his fellow soldiers. Then came Leyte.

Time after time at Leyte Doss braved enemy fire to go to the wounded, and to remove them to safety. Once he darted into the open to treat and rescue a wounded man even while the area was alive with sniper fire. From a distance his fellow soldiers watched in horror as a Japanese sniper leveled his rifle at the fearless medic. Because of the sniper’s position they could not return fire for fear of injuring some of their own. Doss treated the wounded man, evacuated him to the rear, and returned to his position. One of the sergeants told him, “Doss, we expected to see you killed any second. We couldn’t shoot the sniper without killing our own men, and he had his machine gun aimed right at you. Didn’t you see him?”

(Years later a missionary in Japan related the story of Doss’ brush with death that day. After the service a Japanese man in the back of the room told one of the deacons, “That could very well have been me. I was there, and I remember having a soldier in my gun site, but I couldn’t pull the trigger.”) Doss not only survived Leyte, for his repeated heroism he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. So as Corporal Doss stood before the men of Company B at the base of the Maeda Escarpment on Okinawa, they were beginning to believe in the prayers of the medic whose only weapon was his Bible.

See the rest of the story here…

Part 2 of the story

The Secret to fitness!

What is the big secret?

Well, I’ll start this off by saying when I think about the times I was the most fit in my life it was either beat into me in training or… I was doing something I loved to do. Playing baseball, and riding bmx bikes as a kid and teenager were two of mine (along with pretty much anything extreme). I don’t play much baseball now but riding bikes is just as fun as always (on a mountain bike now rather than a bmx bike). The stress of work and adult life in general can lead to laziness, anger, and depression IF YOU LET IT, or you can live like a kid and be in great shape and health with a little knowledge. I was going to write a long, drawn out paragraph leading you guys down a tangent only to dissapoint you with this simple answer. I just feel like there is no reason to beat around the bush. Do active things that you love to do. Things that you have fun doing or had fun doing as a kid. Maybe just things that you’ve seen other people do and always wanted to try. I guess if you are one of those guys that is allergic to the sun and only love eating sugar you may be hopeless.

From doing what you love, the next step is work hard at it. Then comes setting goals for yourself. If you ride bikes, think about a bike race. Constantly press forward and you will succeed in meeting those goals. Never forget to take good music with you either. document your progress. There are many other ways to improve on what you are doing. These are simply the beginning.

When I started getting back into shape in 2008 it was the internet and other peoples ideas that got me started saying “I want to do that” and made me reinvent myself and my training (I realized that bodybuilding workouts didn’t build the power needed for muscle- ups, fighting or parkour. Only strength within a limited range of motion). Before you jump off a building… Know your limits… and erase them

Nutrition is possibly the most important factor to a persons fitness. If you love to cook you may be alright.

There is no big secret as most people would have you believe. This post is meant to inspire.

GOALS

I wrote a post on New years that got a few responses. When I started following Crossfit and Gym Jones and the new style of training, the thing that put my ideas into action was writing them down. This way you don’t forget them, and will keep track of what you need to be working on rather than sitting around waiting for nothing to happen. This pushed me to finish the Marine Corps Marathon, change my lifestyle and build a garage gym (and build the homemade equipment I use). Write down your long and short term GOALS in the comments on here. If you need help reaching these goals or don’t know where to begin, include that also. These are some of my current goals below…

Long term:

Crossfit Level 1 Trainer Cert.
Nutritionist Cert.
Martial Arts Black Belt

Short Term:

Put handholds on the new log I picked up
Handstand
Muscle up
Flying pullup for 3 foot gap
Martial Arts Green belt (April hopefully)
Become a MCMAP Instructor (April)
Host an AAI event (April 24th)

This Medal of Honor story below is an inspiration to me and should be for all Americans. See his story here… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ7968BbMnU