There is a line in the new movie, Hacksaw Ridge, that stuck with me:

“Lord, please help me get one more.”

A WW II combat medic, Desmond Doss, fighting through his exhaustion, knew he could save at least one more soldier who was wounded and would surely die unless saved. It is ironic that Desmond had this intense motivation to save lives in combat. Unlike the rest of his fighting unit, with the motto, “kill them all,” his was “save them all.” He ended up saving 75 fellow soldiers and received the Medal of Honor from President Truman in 1945.

Combat medics and their counterparts in the Marines, the Navy Corpsmen/women are often overlooked when compared to other warfighters. They are like others in the helping professions -- physicians, nurses, social workers, law enforcement, and many others -- they do their job, day after day, to save lives. When they are in crisis mode, their needs are subordinated, just like Desmond Doss. They push themselves to save and heal others.

On this particular Memorial Day holiday filled with uncertainty about our national leaders, remember those who have died for us all. But also let us remember those who did not die because they were saved by combat medics and corpsman. And while we are at it, let’s remember on this Memorial Day those who take care of our war fighters and veterans who also say: “Lord, let me get just one more.”