The irony of the Medics in combat is that they were the BRAVEST soldiers on the battlefield because they were the one's that had to locate wounded soldiers, treat and try to keep them alive until Medivac arrived all while taking fire from the enemy.  Selfless acts of bravery.

Medal of Honor Citation:
"He was a company aidman when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet high. As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar, and machine-gun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back. Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying them one by one to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. On 2 May, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and two days later he treated four men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within eight yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making four separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety. On 5 May, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small-arms fire to assist an artillery officer. He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small-arms fire, and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire. On 21 May, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aidman from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited five hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. Awaiting the litter bearers' return, he was again struck, this time suffering a compound fracture of one arm. With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards over rough terrain to the aid station. Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty."

Mel Gibson took some liberties in making the film as all writers, producers, and directors have to do. But in the case of HACKSAW RIDGE, Gibson actually had to leave out some of the things Desmond did in order to make his story believable. Some people criticize the battle scenes but Gibson captured the brutality of Hacksaw. The Japanese defenses on Hacksaw Ridge were described as an underground battleship. Behind Hacksaw was another Japanese fortified ridge that overlooked the battlefield. The Americans had a great disadvantage in the battle. In the battle for Okinawa the US suffered 12000 killed. Of that number 5000 were from the Navy a result of Kamakazis and 7000 were from the land battle. Hacksaw Ridge cost the US 2500 killed in action or 36% of all battle deaths on Okinawa itself. I think Mel Gibson did a pretty good job of capturing the brutality of the battle.

In the movie it said he saved 75 men but in reality it was over 125.

He exemplified what a Christian man should be. He walked the walk…

The part where Desmond on the Edge of the Ridge and asked the Lord, what is it what he wants him to do? Desmond heard words Medic someone was calling for Medic. Desmond knew what his Lord wanted him to do. Desmond got his Helmet and going into the explosions from the artillery shells from the Battleships. When he was going into the explosions it reminded me a verse.
Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

The fact the creators of the movie actually TONED DOWN Doss's feats still blows my mind. The army's number showed Doss saved close to 150 people. Doss humbly disagreed stating it couldn't have been more than 50. They decided to compromise on the number of 75 saved. Just at Okinawa. He actually served a lot longer than that, all without carrying a gun, while starving due to being a vegetarian. He was eventually discharged because his legs got shredded. He contracted TB while in recovery as well. At least two japanese soldiers experienced weapon malfunction while attempting to kill Doss. Everytime they would aim at him and pull the trigger the gun would jam. Aimed somewhere else and fired, gun worked, aimed back at Doss, weapon jammed. Then all the reports of men refusing to go in to the field without Doss praying for them. One time, two squads, one consisting of Doss went out. The squad without Doss, not a single man returned. When Doss's squad returned, they asked how many they lost. They couldn't believe it when 0 casualties were reported from Doss's squad. Near the end when he was officially removed from active combat, in his final battle, his legs were so shredded he could no longer walk, and he ended up with a broken arm. He splinted his arm with a broken rifle barrel he found. And while crawling, he continued to treat injured soldiers. He consistently surrendered his own stretcher for other wounded men. Including one time they were carrying him off the field and he demanded the medics stop and take another soldier first. At one point, he lost his bible in the field and was heartbroken. The men in his squad went straight back to an active warzone and searched for hours to find his bible. Go watch the Conscientious Objector documentary on YT. If you are interested in Doss it is the best source of info.

The fact tht every single rifle tht was aimed to shoot desmond dead all jammed or malfunctioned. Yes he sustained injury, though he continued on. He gave his stretcher to another soldier and even saved a few more before he was brought down. Teuly a legend. Truly a holy man. Truly blessed. RIP Desmond Doss, you may be gone, but you will forever go down in history as a genuine and complete human. The most human human there ever was.

The only thing I wish Gibson had put back in the movie was Doss Rolling off his stretcher to give another wounded soldier, a way to get off the battlefield. I believe it happened more than once. Great film! There are still people like him around, but never enough!

As a American from Connecticut, it’s important to recognize the south has a incredible amount of hero’s who did absolutely amazing things in battle, I’m a outdoors man, grew up fishing and hunting, learning how to become very efficient with a gun, so I can appreciate these guys who grew up the same way with a strong sense of patriotism

Doss was a part of the 77th infantry division  "The old Bastards "  the average age was 33 , they fought so hard in the Pacific theater that the Marines called them  " the 77th Marine division " .

Ok I am a combat veteran and I have been accused of being a hard and cold man. What both of you have just done is perfect to me. Veterans some sometimes watch this kind of thing because it helps heal. Thank you both for this and may God bless you you both for the rest of your lives.

Just a few more notes about the movie. Most of the battle and rescue scenes were accurate. Smitty represented a mix of soldiers Desmond got to know. One man in particular eventually befriended Doss during his training. During the battle he was severely wounded and Doss got him to the hospital. Later on Doss went to check on him and found out he had died. After that Desmond refrained from checking on anyone he had saved.
As bad as Desmond was treated in the movie it didn't even come close to how bad it really was. Mel Gibson could have made an entire movie on how bad Desmond was treated. A documentary about Desmond's life had a couple of men that were with him in training and they mentioned a Colonel that really had it in for Desmond. Both men mentioned that they didn't know how Desmond withstood the abuse.
Thomas Doss did serve in WW1 fought in the Battle of Bella Wood and suffered drom PTSD. He started abusing alcohol but was a good father and husband. After Desmond came home Thomas stopped drinking.
Captain Glover saw something special in Desmond before they went to war. While in Hawaii his commanding officer wanted Doss transferred. Captain Glover stood up for Desmond and talked him out of it. There are several documentaries on Desmond Doss and Hacksaw Ridge. I forgot the name of the defense the Japanese used but it involved a high line of attack overlooking Hacksaw. Hacksaw Ridge itself was a relatively small battlefield. In other words the Japanese had a huge advantage since their defense was like shooting fish in a barrel.
Finding Desmond's Bible was even more dramatic than what the movie showed. Desmond's leg injury from the grenade required he be sent to a hospital ship for surgery. When the men in his company found out that Desmond had lost his Bible they search the entire battle area for it. They did this even though there was still some risk of getting killed. They found his Bible and had it sent to him. To include all these things in a movie it would have to be 15 hours long or made into a series. Well that's it, I'm looking forward to future reactions. Both of you are great.

Although in the movie they make it look like Okinawa was their first fight but it was not.  Desmond's unit had participated in the invasion of Guam and the  Marianas.  Desmond had already earned a Purple Heart (Combat wounded) either a Bronze Star or Silver Star.  So for the American Military the awards are like this in order of easiest to hardest to get: Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross and Medal of Honor.  So by the time they got to Okinawa the men in his unit knew he was a hero.

Garfield NAILED this role, insane performance

Also the part Garfield drags Vaughn is not real. Him being saved is real, but Vaughn is too big for Garfield to carry especially since Garfield did so much weight loss for the movie. Also the Real Doss was shorter and weighed less then Garfield did for this movie....so think about that for a minute. He weighed less, was shorter....still able to drag...carry people....and lower them off the ledge to the bottom for over 12 hours to where he saved 100+ people.....................................WHERE DID HE GET THE STRENGTH TO DO IT! It's truly INSANE how he did it

The Japanese did not adhere to any of the rules of war as stated in the Hague convention of 1899 or the Geneva Convention of 1929. You see 3 violations in the movie:
1. All medical personnel were to be off limits and that included medics and stretcher bearers. The Japanese actually paid extra to their soldiers for killing medics. You actually saw this in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN where the medics are allowed to work without being shot. The Nazis followed the rules on the Western Front.
2. You could not use a white flag to fake surrender in order to attack your enemy.
3. Wounded soldiers were not to be killed.
The Pacific was no holds barred combat against an enemy that would rather die than surrender.

When training as a field medic in our Military, he is the example use in the books, he’s literally cemented in history

that's how you react to a movie, perfect cuts. don't ever stop doing this.

the fact that the studio who created this movie had to dial back his heroics in the war to make it seem more believable speaks volumes. The only thing i didn't care for about this movie was he actually gained favor among his piers well before hacksaw and they respected long before it to.

Desmond Doss' story became the centerpiece of the US Navy's Corpsman School.
When I joined the Navy in 1976, I originally opted to be a Corpsman (the Navy and USMC's version of the US Army's Combat Medic.)  However there was a wait for potential Corpsmen of 6 months to start
Boot Camp.  So I opted to become a Surface Sonar Technician.  No matter who we were, Sailor or Marine, we loved our Corpsmen (affectionately called "Doc").