Desmond Doss
TL;DR: The medic who saved 75 men without ever touching a gun.
The Conscientious Cooperator
Desmond Doss was a devout Seventh-day Adventist who enlisted in WWII but refused to carry a weapon or kill an enemy soldier. The Army tried to discharge him for mental instability, and his fellow soldiers bullied him relentlessly, calling him a coward. He insisted he wanted to serve his country as a combat medic. He would save lives, not take them.
Hacksaw Ridge
In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, Doss's unit was decimated atop the Maeda Escarpment (Hacksaw Ridge). As the rest of the unit retreated under heavy mortar fire, Doss stayed behind in the kill zone. For 12 hours, he crawled through the mud, dragging wounded soldiers one by one to the edge of the cliff and lowering them to safety on a rope litter.
Lord, Help Me Get One More
Doss prayed continuously: 'Lord, please help me get one more.' By the time he finally came down, he had single-handedly saved 75 men. He was wounded four times by grenades and sniper fire. He became the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor, proving that courage does not require a weapon.
The World Without Him
Without Desmond Doss, 75 men would have been left to die on Hacksaw Ridge. They would have bled out from their wounds or been executed by the advancing Japanese forces. More than that, Doss proved to the US military—and the world—that pacifism is not cowardice. His legacy protects the rights of conscientious objectors to serve their countries without violating their beliefs.
