The Early Life Of Desmond Doss<\/h2>\n![\"Desmond](\"https:\/\/allthatsinteresting.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/desmond-doss.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWikimedia Commons<\/span>Desmond Doss was famously portrayed in the movie\u00a0Hacksaw Ridge<\/em>, but his true story is even more incredible.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nFrom a young age, Desmond Doss, born on February 7, 1919, radiated the kind of empathy that he\u2019d display as a soldier later in life.<\/p>\n
When he was just a child, for example, he once walked six miles to donate blood to an accident victim \u2014\u00a0a complete stranger \u2014 after hearing about the need for blood on a local radio station. A few days later, Doss traveled down the same long stretch of road to give even more blood.<\/p>\n
Around the same time, Doss also developed a hatred of weapons that would persist throughout his entire life, even during his time in combat.<\/p>\n
Doss\u2019 hatred of weapons stemmed from his religious beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist, and from watching his drunken father pull a gun on his uncle during an argument. His mother had managed to confiscate the .45 pistol from her husband and told the young Doss to run and hide it. He was so shaken, he vowed that was the last time he would ever hold a weapon.<\/p>\n
Instead, Doss spent his childhood doing things like flattening pennies on the railway near his Lynchburg, Virginia home and wrestling with his younger brother, Harold. He said that Desmond wasn\u2019t much fun to wrestle with because you could never win \u2014 not because Desmond was particularly skilled, but because he\u2019d never surrender and didn\u2019t know how to give up.<\/p>\n
Years later, this physical resilience would come in handy during his time in the military. And it would also help him earn the Medal of Honor.<\/p>\n
A Conscientious Objector In The U.S. Military<\/h2>\n![\"Battle](\"https:\/\/allthatsinteresting.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/okinawa-guns.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWikimedia Commons<\/span>Marines in combat during the Battle of Okinawa. May 1945.<\/span><\/p>\nAt age 18, Doss dutifully registered for the draft and worked at a shipyard in Newport News, Virginia. When World War II broke out, Doss jumped at the opportunity to aid the cause and serve his country during the conflict.<\/p>\n
But the fact that he refused to carry a weapon \u2014 let alone kill anyone \u2014 earned him the widely unflattering label of \u201cconscientious objector.\u201d It was a label that Doss hated, and instead of flat-out refusing to perform military service, he insisted that he work as a medic. The Army assigned him to a rifle company instead, in hopes that he\u2019d just leave the military.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just didn\u2019t fit into the Army\u2019s model of what a good soldier would be,\u201d said Terry Benedict, a filmmaker who made\u00a0The Conscientious Objector<\/em><\/a>, a documentary about Doss, in 2004.<\/p>\nDoss appealed the Army\u2019s decision up through the ranks until they begrudgingly decided to make him a medic. But his fellow soldiers in training camp still couldn\u2019t understand why Doss was there in the first place.<\/p>\n
They teased him mercilessly to \u201cman up\u201d and carry a rifle. Some of them also launched their boots and other objects at him while he was praying by his bunk at night. And one even\u00a0threatened him<\/a>, \u201cDoss, when we get into combat, I\u2019ll make sure you don\u2019t come back alive.\u201d<\/p>\nMany of the soldiers hated him for getting a pass on the Sabbath because it was against his religion to work on his holy day \u2014 never mind that the officers gave Doss all the worst work to complete by himself on Sundays.<\/p>\n
Nobody wanted to be friends. Friends had each other\u2019s backs. Without a defense weapon, the others insisted, Doss was useless to them.<\/p>\n
Doss not only dismissed their cruel behavior, but he also rose above it. He believed that his purpose was to serve both God and his country. All he wanted was to prove those two tasks weren\u2019t mutually exclusive.<\/p>\n
Inside The True Story Of\u00a0Hacksaw Ridge<\/em><\/h2>\n![\"True](\"https:\/\/allthatsinteresting.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/okinawa-explosion.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWikimedia Commons<\/span>Marines destroy a Japanese cave during the Battle of Okinawa. May 1945.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nThen came the battle at the\u00a0Okinawa<\/a>\u00a0Maeda Escarpment, or what the Americans called \u201cHacksaw Ridge.\u201d It fell on May 5, 1945, a Saturday \u2014 which was Doss\u2019 day of Sabbath. It was a particularly grueling onslaught with artillery coming so fast and furious that it was literally ripping men in half.<\/p>\nThe Japanese army\u2019s plan of waiting until all of the Americans reached the plateau to open fire created a devastating amount of wounded soldiers. But the Japanese didn\u2019t know that the Americans had Desmond Doss.<\/p>\n
In an act that still astounds the surviving members of Doss\u2019 company today, the fearless medic held his ground at the plateau. Amidst never-ending gunfire and mortar shells, Doss treated the wounded American soldiers that others may have left for dead. And even when his own life was at risk, he was determined to save as many men as he possibly could.<\/p>\n
Hour after hour, as explosions rang constantly in his ears, he tied countless tourniquets. Covered from head to toe in blood not his own, Doss crawled and dragged each injured member of his company to the edge of the ridge and carefully lowered them down. For more than 12 hours, he labored under fire and saved an incredible amount of human lives.<\/p>\n
Knowing that some Japanese soldiers sometimes\u00a0tortured wounded U.S. soldiers<\/a>, Doss refused to leave a single man on top of the ridge.<\/p>\nNot only did Doss leave no man behind, but he also \u2014 miraculously \u2014 escaped with his own life and avoided any serious injury. Doss would later claim that God had spared his life on that fateful day. And according to\u00a0The Conscientious Objector<\/em>, Japanese soldiers repeatedly\u00a0had Doss in their sights<\/a>, only to have their guns jam at the last moment.<\/p>\nTwo weeks later, Doss was in battle again a few miles away from the escarpment when a Japanese grenade landed in a foxhole containing Doss and some of his patients. He attempted to kick the grenade away, but it detonated. Doss ended up with deep shrapnel lacerations all down his legs.<\/p>\n
He treated himself for shock and dressed his own wounds, rather than having another medic emerge from safety to help. Five hours later, someone finally arrived with a stretcher. But when Doss saw a soldier in need, he rolled off, surrendered his stretcher, and started patching up his comrade.<\/p>\n
While Doss was waiting for more help to arrive, a sniper suddenly shot and shattered all of the bones in his left arm. (Hacksaw Ridge<\/em>\u00a0director Mel Gibson left this part out of the film because he felt that it was so heroic that audiences wouldn\u2019t even believe that it had really happened.)<\/p>\nDoss then crawled 300 yards to the aid station without accompaniment. He didn\u2019t realize it then, but he\u2019d lost his Bible on the battlefield.<\/p>\n
The Heroic Legacy Of Desmond Doss<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nWikimedia Commons<\/span>Desmond Doss was famously portrayed in the movie\u00a0Hacksaw Ridge<\/em>, but his true story is even more incredible.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n From a young age, Desmond Doss, born on February 7, 1919, radiated the kind of empathy that he\u2019d display as a soldier later in life.<\/p>\n When he was just a child, for example, he once walked six miles to donate blood to an accident victim \u2014\u00a0a complete stranger \u2014 after hearing about the need for blood on a local radio station. A few days later, Doss traveled down the same long stretch of road to give even more blood.<\/p>\n Around the same time, Doss also developed a hatred of weapons that would persist throughout his entire life, even during his time in combat.<\/p>\n Doss\u2019 hatred of weapons stemmed from his religious beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist, and from watching his drunken father pull a gun on his uncle during an argument. His mother had managed to confiscate the .45 pistol from her husband and told the young Doss to run and hide it. He was so shaken, he vowed that was the last time he would ever hold a weapon.<\/p>\n Instead, Doss spent his childhood doing things like flattening pennies on the railway near his Lynchburg, Virginia home and wrestling with his younger brother, Harold. He said that Desmond wasn\u2019t much fun to wrestle with because you could never win \u2014 not because Desmond was particularly skilled, but because he\u2019d never surrender and didn\u2019t know how to give up.<\/p>\n Years later, this physical resilience would come in handy during his time in the military. And it would also help him earn the Medal of Honor.<\/p>\n Wikimedia Commons<\/span>Marines in combat during the Battle of Okinawa. May 1945.<\/span><\/p>\n At age 18, Doss dutifully registered for the draft and worked at a shipyard in Newport News, Virginia. When World War II broke out, Doss jumped at the opportunity to aid the cause and serve his country during the conflict.<\/p>\n But the fact that he refused to carry a weapon \u2014 let alone kill anyone \u2014 earned him the widely unflattering label of \u201cconscientious objector.\u201d It was a label that Doss hated, and instead of flat-out refusing to perform military service, he insisted that he work as a medic. The Army assigned him to a rifle company instead, in hopes that he\u2019d just leave the military.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just didn\u2019t fit into the Army\u2019s model of what a good soldier would be,\u201d said Terry Benedict, a filmmaker who made\u00a0The Conscientious Objector<\/em><\/a>, a documentary about Doss, in 2004.<\/p>\n Doss appealed the Army\u2019s decision up through the ranks until they begrudgingly decided to make him a medic. But his fellow soldiers in training camp still couldn\u2019t understand why Doss was there in the first place.<\/p>\n They teased him mercilessly to \u201cman up\u201d and carry a rifle. Some of them also launched their boots and other objects at him while he was praying by his bunk at night. And one even\u00a0threatened him<\/a>, \u201cDoss, when we get into combat, I\u2019ll make sure you don\u2019t come back alive.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of the soldiers hated him for getting a pass on the Sabbath because it was against his religion to work on his holy day \u2014 never mind that the officers gave Doss all the worst work to complete by himself on Sundays.<\/p>\n Nobody wanted to be friends. Friends had each other\u2019s backs. Without a defense weapon, the others insisted, Doss was useless to them.<\/p>\n Doss not only dismissed their cruel behavior, but he also rose above it. He believed that his purpose was to serve both God and his country. All he wanted was to prove those two tasks weren\u2019t mutually exclusive.<\/p>\n Wikimedia Commons<\/span>Marines destroy a Japanese cave during the Battle of Okinawa. May 1945.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Then came the battle at the\u00a0Okinawa<\/a>\u00a0Maeda Escarpment, or what the Americans called \u201cHacksaw Ridge.\u201d It fell on May 5, 1945, a Saturday \u2014 which was Doss\u2019 day of Sabbath. It was a particularly grueling onslaught with artillery coming so fast and furious that it was literally ripping men in half.<\/p>\n The Japanese army\u2019s plan of waiting until all of the Americans reached the plateau to open fire created a devastating amount of wounded soldiers. But the Japanese didn\u2019t know that the Americans had Desmond Doss.<\/p>\n In an act that still astounds the surviving members of Doss\u2019 company today, the fearless medic held his ground at the plateau. Amidst never-ending gunfire and mortar shells, Doss treated the wounded American soldiers that others may have left for dead. And even when his own life was at risk, he was determined to save as many men as he possibly could.<\/p>\n Hour after hour, as explosions rang constantly in his ears, he tied countless tourniquets. Covered from head to toe in blood not his own, Doss crawled and dragged each injured member of his company to the edge of the ridge and carefully lowered them down. For more than 12 hours, he labored under fire and saved an incredible amount of human lives.<\/p>\n Knowing that some Japanese soldiers sometimes\u00a0tortured wounded U.S. soldiers<\/a>, Doss refused to leave a single man on top of the ridge.<\/p>\n Not only did Doss leave no man behind, but he also \u2014 miraculously \u2014 escaped with his own life and avoided any serious injury. Doss would later claim that God had spared his life on that fateful day. And according to\u00a0The Conscientious Objector<\/em>, Japanese soldiers repeatedly\u00a0had Doss in their sights<\/a>, only to have their guns jam at the last moment.<\/p>\n Two weeks later, Doss was in battle again a few miles away from the escarpment when a Japanese grenade landed in a foxhole containing Doss and some of his patients. He attempted to kick the grenade away, but it detonated. Doss ended up with deep shrapnel lacerations all down his legs.<\/p>\n He treated himself for shock and dressed his own wounds, rather than having another medic emerge from safety to help. Five hours later, someone finally arrived with a stretcher. But when Doss saw a soldier in need, he rolled off, surrendered his stretcher, and started patching up his comrade.<\/p>\n While Doss was waiting for more help to arrive, a sniper suddenly shot and shattered all of the bones in his left arm. (Hacksaw Ridge<\/em>\u00a0director Mel Gibson left this part out of the film because he felt that it was so heroic that audiences wouldn\u2019t even believe that it had really happened.)<\/p>\n Doss then crawled 300 yards to the aid station without accompaniment. He didn\u2019t realize it then, but he\u2019d lost his Bible on the battlefield.<\/p>\nA Conscientious Objector In The U.S. Military<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nInside The True Story Of\u00a0Hacksaw Ridge<\/em><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nThe Heroic Legacy Of Desmond Doss<\/h2>\n
![\"Desmond](\"https:\/\/allthatsinteresting.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/desmond-doss-truman.jpg\")
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