When World War II came, he worked at a shipyard and could have stayed home. He refused the deferment. He wanted to serve his country, but he would not carry a gun. So the Army made him a medic.
Boot camp was hard. Some of the other men harassed him, and some threw shoes at him while he knelt to pray. They tried to get him transferred out of the unit.
He stayed.
In late April 1945, his unit, the 307th Infantry of the 77th Infantry Division, was sent to Okinawa. In front of them was a jagged cliff about 400 feet high. The soldiers called it Hacksaw Ridge.
When the Americans reached the top, heavy artillery, mortar and machine gun fire hit them. About 75 men went down, and the rest were driven back over the edge.
Desmond did not go back. He stayed up there alone with the wounded.
One by one, he dragged them to the edge of the cliff, tied them into a rope sling and lowered them down to friendly hands below. Then he went back for the next one.
Years later he said he kept praying the same prayer the whole time: “Lord, please help me get one more.”
By the time he was done, the men he had saved included some of the same soldiers who had mocked him in training.
A few weeks later, Desmond was badly wounded by a grenade. While he was being carried to safety, he saw a soldier hurt worse than him and crawled off the stretcher so the man could go first. Then a sniper’s bullet shattered his arm. He tied a rifle stock to it as a splint and crawled about 300 yards to the aid station.
On October 12, 1945, President Harry Truman placed the Medal of Honor around his neck at the White House. He was the first conscientious objector ever to receive it.
Desmond Doss died in 2006, at 87. In this video, he tells his story in his own words.
Did you know the true story behind Hacksaw Ridge? Tell us in the comments.
