Doss attended the Park Avenue Seventh-day Adventist Church school until the eighth grade, and subsequently found a job at the Lynchburg Lumber Company to support his family during the Great Depression.
Doss menempuh pendidikan di sekolah The Park Avenue Seventh-day Adventist Church sampai kelas delapan, dan segera menjalani pekerjaannya di the Perusahaan Lynchburg Lumber untuk membantu keluarganya selama Depresi Besar.