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In the Landmark book Medical Corps Heroes of World War II, the last chapter, “Iwo Jima and Okinawa,” is devoted entirely to three heroes of the battles on those islands. Jim Bradley, Pharmacist’s Mate 3rd Class, was with the Marines who took Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, and was at the top when the first flag was raised. Robert Bush was a Marine corpsman who was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor on Okinawa. His citation stated that he “constantly and unhesitatingly moved from one casualty to another to attend the wounded Marines falling under the enemy’s murderous barrage.”
In a book in which many of the heroes’ names are mentioned once in passing with minimal details, Desmond Doss’s story merit’s seven pages. Doss was a Seventh-Day Adventist and a staunch believer in all of the Ten Commandments, including the sixth, “Thou shalt not kill.” He volunteered to serve his country but refused to carry a weapon or to work on Saturdays. Because of this, his military career got off to a shaky start, but his grit and dedication gradually earned him the trust and admiration of his fellow soldiers.
In battle, Doss was reminded by his commanders again and again that it was not his job to go out on patrols with his platoon. He could stay behind and wait for a call for help. After all, what would they do if he were killed? But he knew the men felt better if he went with them. If a man was wounded, minutes might make the difference between surviving or dying, so he continued to put himself in danger.
Doss’s unit first saw action during the invasion of Guam in July, 1944. From there, they went to the Philippines, then on to Okinawa. His actions on Okinawa at the Maeda Escarpment in May of 1945 are memorialized on two monuments, one in English and one in Japanese, at the edge of the cliff where he rescued 75 men. It was for this incident that he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Booton Herndon’s The Unlikeliest Hero, “the most authoritative source of information about the life and World War II exploits of Demond T. Doss,” went out of print in 1967. According to the “Acknowledgments” in the 2016 reprint, now titled “Redemption at Hacksaw Ridge, Mel Gibson’s movie Hacksaw Ridge, was the impetus for the Desmond Doss Council to republish the book. The facts of the story were verified, and today’s readers benefit from a new foreword, prologue, epilogue, and additional photographs.
The remarkable rescue for which Doss was awarded his C.M.H. is briefly described in a mere two pages. One reason for the sparse details is that Doss didn’t remember many once it was over. He only knew he had kept going back, praying that God would give him one more man, then one more, He dragged each wounded soldier to the edge of the cliff, tied a rope around his feet and chest, and lowered him to safety.
He had no idea how many men he had saved until his commanding officers deduced the number by subtracting the number of men who were still on their feet when it was over from the total who had taken part in the assault on the escarpment. Doss couldn’t believe their calculation was correct–one hundred men! He estimated it couldn’t have been more than fifty, so they agreed to split the difference, and the official report was 75.
Though the rescue was an amazing feat, the story Herndon really wanted to tell was that of Doss’s inspiring faith in God’s commandments and promises. He was so respected by the men in his unit that at least one attack was postponed long enough for Doss to finish his Sabbath lesson. Men who weren’t Christians at least believed in his faith and asked him to pray for them. After the war, Doss continued to serve others, though he suffered ill health, as a result of wounds and tuberculosis contracted in the Pacific, for the rest of his life.
At the official Desmond Doss website, https://desmonddoss.org/resources/, you can find more information and a half-hour video, “Miracle on Hacksaw Ridge.”
You may also watch a full-length documentary, “The Conscientious Objector,” here.
The only caution is that on page 85 we read that the natives on Guam and the Philipines “told of atrocities, of soldiers raping girls on the street in broad daylight, and killing anyone who protested.”
There are no details.