Source: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE / Getty
Mel Gibson’s upcoming film “Hacksaw Ridge” details the heroics of a U.S. Army medic whose only weapon on the battlefield during World War II was prayer.
Based on the extraordinary true story of Desmond Doss, played by Andrew Garfield (“The Amazing Spider Man”), who served in Okinawa during the bloodiest battle in the Pacific and miraculously saved 75 men without firing a shot, “Hacksaw Ridge” will hit theaters nationwide on Nov 4.
Doss served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army but refused to kill or carry a weapon into combat because of his personal beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist. Consequently, he thought it was fitting to become a medic during the war.
His Medal of Honor citation says: “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.” He exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire on his rescue missions and was wounded but never relented.
He is the only American WWII soldier to fight on the front lines without a weapon. His choice of artillery was prayer and he used it often while single-handedly evacuating wounded soldiers from behind enemy lines.
