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We rented and watched "Hacksaw Ridge" last night. Very well done movie in my opinion. While I was watching it I was thinking it was almost understated. When I watched and heard some short comments from Desmond Doss at the end I then understood why. I think Mel Gibson portrayed Doss's amazing feats as though a very modest and humble man was telling the story. I highly recommend the film.

We wanted to see it in theater, but didn't manage to do that. I got it a couple days ago. We haven't watched it yet.

It is a great movie, but I loathe how much Hollywood changed the facts. His exploits on his MOH citation are even more heroic than what the movie portrays:

DOSS, DESMOND T.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Urasoe Mura, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 29 April-21 May 1945. Entered service at: Lynchburg, Va. Birth: Lynchburg, Va. G.O. No.: 97, 1 November 1945.
Citation: He was a company aid man when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet high As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machinegun 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 1 by 1 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 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within 8 yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making 4 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 aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 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 1 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.

Goldspurs wrote:It is a great movie, but I loathe how much Hollywood changed the facts. His exploits on his MOH citation are even more heroic than what the movie portrays:

DOSS, DESMOND T.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Urasoe Mura, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 29 April-21 May 1945. Entered service at: Lynchburg, Va. Birth: Lynchburg, Va. G.O. No.: 97, 1 November 1945.
Citation: He was a company aid man when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet high As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machinegun 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 1 by 1 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 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within 8 yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making 4 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 aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 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 1 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.

I agree the movie showed but a fraction of his accomplishments and I was looking for the incident you mentioned where he insisted others get attention before him and when he bound his fractured arm. I thought that would surely be in the film, but now I have to wonder if Mr. Doss influenced that. It did show his resolution to be true to his faith and beliefs regardless of the persecution, ridicule and even potential loss of his freedom in doing so.

My wife and I just watched the movie on DVD from Netflix. What a great movie. I have to say though that watching the two big battle scenes, where the Army advances, and then during the big Japanese counterattack, it was exhausting to watch because I kept forgetting to breathe!

I watched Hacksaw Ridge yesterday(Sunday). The movie was very good. I also recommend it.

Watched it Sunday night, quite intense battle scenes. It is a great movie and a nail biter for sure. It was great to see him (and others) in the "Credits" at the end of the movie. Its really sad we are losing all of our beloved Vets that fought in that era. I wish they could show these movies in High school; that would make History a lot more interesting and maybe give the kids a better idea of what our Vets went through. I know a 2 hour movie is scratching the surface but still.....

I have mixed feelings. The movie was excellent, and realistic. The intensity of the Pacific campaign was certain unimaginable, no question about it, and the realism of this movie exceeded that of Saving Private Ryan. Like some others, I was exhausted when it was over. I haven't felt this way after a war movie since seeing Blackhawk Down.

Doss's heroism was certainly beyond reproach, and he deserved the Medal of Honor. No argument there.

But some profound questions linger:

I would ask him, "Private Doss, what would you say to the mothers of the soldiers who died horrible deaths when they were killed by the Japanese soldiers you didn't kill, even though you easily could have?" Given the intensity of those battles, I think it's a virtual certainty that in this manner, Doss indirectly caused a significant number of American casualties.

We saw how devoted Doss was to his wife.

"Private Doss, if you saw someone raising his gun to kill your wife, and you had a gun there next to you, would you grab that gun and save her, or would you just sit there and watch her be murdered?"

"Oh, you'd save her, you say? But allowing enemy soldiers to kill your buddies on the battlefield is OK? Their lives aren't as important?"

You see my point. Again, great movie, strongly reccommended, but it left me with some deep thoughts.

Well, I must say that "Hacksaw Ridge" is in our queue. Should I move it to the top?

Oldgringo wrote:Well, I must say that "Hacksaw Ridge" is in our queue. Should I move it to the top?

Yes.

Mxrdad wrote:Watched it Sunday night, quite intense battle scenes. It is a great movie and a nail biter for sure. It was great to see him (and others) in the "Credits" at the end of the movie. Its really sad we are losing all of our beloved Vets that fought in that era. I wish they could show these movies in High school; that would make History a lot more interesting and maybe give the kids a better idea of what our Vets went through. I know a 2 hour movie is scratching the surface but still.....

They could do a couple of movie weeks..... and by the end of two weeks, the kids would certainly get it.

Monday: Saving Private Ryan (D-Day, and introduction to the war in the ETO)
Tuesday: Enemies at the Gate (what it was like for one of our allies)
Wednesday: Band of Brothers miniseries marathon (liberation of fortress Europe)
Thursday: The Pacific miniseries marathon (pushing back the Japanese in the PTO)
Friday: Hacksaw Ridge (part of the penultimate batte of the PTO)

Monday: Catch 22 (some of the absurdities of war)
Tuesday: Schindler's List (the evils of Hitler's "final solution")
Wednesday: Das Boot (the German experience)
Thursday: Letters from Iwo Jima (the Japanese experience)
Friday: Empire of the Sun (the civilian POW experience)

You could get more in-depth than that, but two weeks soaking in this stuff for a couple of hours a day would not only help bring them up to speed on the world's single biggest conflict, which set the world's stage for the next 75 years, but it would prompt a lot of other civics discussions too.

The Annoyed Man wrote: They could do a couple of movie weeks..... and by the end of two weeks, the kids would certainly get it.

Monday: Saving Private Ryan (D-Day, and introduction to the war in the ETO)
Tuesday: Enemies at the Gate (what it was like for one of our allies)
Wednesday: Band of Brothers miniseries marathon (liberation of fortress Europe)
Thursday: The Pacific miniseries marathon (pushing back the Japanese in the PTO)
Friday: Hacksaw Ridge (part of the penultimate batte of the PTO)

Monday: Catch 22 (some of the absurdities of war)
Tuesday: Schindler's List (the evils of Hitler's "final solution")
Wednesday: Das Boot (the German experience)
Thursday: Letters from Iwo Jima (the Japanese experience)
Friday: Empire of the Sun (the civilian POW experience)

You could get more in-depth than that, but two weeks soaking in this stuff for a couple of hours a day would not only help bring them up to speed on the world's single biggest conflict, which set the world's stage for the next 75 years, but it would prompt a lot of other civics discussions too.

Another one to add to the list - Iwo Jima 36 Days of "Hell" (forum filter wouldn't post the other H word that is actually in the title). It's not your typical documentary - has vet after vet who was there telling their personal experiences. It's candid, it's graphic and very instructive. 2 disk set, 4 hours & 6 minutes of unfiltered history. DVD set can be had for very cheap - is also on Youtube.

Oldgringo wrote:Well, I must say that "Hacksaw Ridge" is in our queue. Should I move it to the top?

Absolutely.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

Mxrdad wrote:Watched it Sunday night, quite intense battle scenes. It is a great movie and a nail biter for sure. It was great to see him (and others) in the "Credits" at the end of the movie. Its really sad we are losing all of our beloved Vets that fought in that era. I wish they could show these movies in High school; that would make History a lot more interesting and maybe give the kids a better idea of what our Vets went through. I know a 2 hour movie is scratching the surface but still.....

That's a great idea, much better than reading a couple of paragraphs in a history book. I fear, however, that snowflakes would protest at the school board meetings because they didn't use enough blacks and hispanics.....

In any case, I would include "Stalingrad." What we went through pales in comparison.