BOOTON HERNDON (1915-1995), like Desmond Doss, was Virginia-born and fought in World War II as a young adult. Working as a reporter for the New Orleans Item after graduating from college, Herndon's career was interrupted by war and he found himself both on Normandy's Omaha Beach and then later in the Battle of the Bulge where he received a medal, although he would later downplay his role on the battlefield. After the war, Herndon worked for the New York Daily Mirror and wrote for the rest of his life, including more than one thousand articles for magazines such as TIME, Cosmopolitan, and the Saturday Evening Post. He was also the author of twenty-three books, including The Unlikeliest Hero: The Story of Desmond T. Doss, Conscientious Objector Who Won His Nation's Highest Military Honor, originally published in 1967. The book was based on personal interviews with Desmond Doss, and is now rereleased under the title Redemption at Hacksaw Ridge.
