Collecting Royalty

A few months ago on these pages we mused about what military figure would be the ultimate collector target — the “Babe Ruth” of military memorabilia, at least for American collectors. We opined that perhaps Audie Murphy was the top of the ladder. He led an amazing, heroic life, and his Hollywood career made him even more famous than he would have been had he returned to a quieter civilian existence.

There is enough Audi Murphy memorabilia still in circulation — particularly autographed publicity photos from his movie days — to make him a prized subject for collectors.

Another fun guy to collect, and certainly a worthy subject, is fellow Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Desmond Doss. Doss, of course, was the famed “conscientious objector” who was ostracized early on in the military for religious beliefs that he said precluded him from using a firearm. Few men turned out to be more heroic in combat, however. Doss is credited for saving as many as 75 men while serving as a combat medic during the Battle of Okinawa. His exploits were detailed in the 2004 book The Conscientious Objector and later the high-profile film Hacksaw Ridge, for which actor Andrew Garfield was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Doss.

Doss was badly wounded during his heroic rescue efforts, and later suffered from tuberculosis, which he contracted on Leyte, and eventually lost a lung and five ribs. Later, in 1976, he lost his hearing due to an overdose of antibiotics.

Doss got married and raised a family on a small farm in Georgia following his military days. He kept a fairly low profile, but he did sign enough items to give collectors hope of landing an authentic autograph. A quick search on eBay can reveal a nice selection of signed Doss items, from a signed postcard with Doss’s photo on it for $500, to signed prints of Doss receiving his MOH from President Harry Truman in 1945 for $269 (see the cover of this issue). Another cool prize would be a copy of the book Desmond Doss: In God’s Care about Doss’s life. Doss signed one copy for General Colin Powell that was listed for $750 on a book seller’s website. There are plenty of other artifacts to collect that have ties to Doss — newspaper stories, framed displays and reproductions of documents and citations, memorable period photos, and various Hacksaw Ridge movie items. We didn’t find any signed copies of the famous grainy black-and-white photo showing Doss standing on the top of the hill in Okinawa, but even a non-signed photo would be a worthy addition to any WWII collection.

Of the 3,525 Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, only 65 are still living. Sadly, that means that authentic memorabilia and autographs of many of these heroes will just keep getting harder to find.

One thing is certain, anything touched by American soldier Desmond Thomas Doss, we’d be proud to own.