He was told that he was free to walk into the hellfire of battle without a single weapon to protect him – and that is what he did. He was Private Desmond Doss, a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and a conscientious objector during World War II.
Doss fought his war by becoming a medic and saving the lives of at least 75 of his comrades during the vicious battle of Okinawa. He was subsequently presented with the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman for his bravery under fire.
An enlisted man, Doss refused to kill or carry a weapon into combat because of his personal beliefs. He is now the subject of the feature film Hacksaw Ridge which goes on release in ‘awards season’ this November. The film, made on a budget of $55m in New South Wales last year, is Mel Gibson’s first directorial assignment since Apocalypto in 2006.
Like Doss, Gibson has been in the wars and found it difficult to get films made following a number of controversial public outbursts which were generally deemed to be anti-Semitic. Hacksaw Ridge was developed by writer/producer/director Randall Miller who has worked with the Oscar-winning Gibson before.
Hacksaw Ridge is typical of the kind of inspirational subject matter to which both filmmakers have traditionally been drawn. “While everyone else is taking life, I’m going to save it and that’s going to be my way of serving,” Doss declares in one dramatic sequence in the movie.
Former Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield, stars in Hacksaw Ridge, with Vince Vaughn, and a host of Aussie stars including Sam Worthington, Teresa Palmer, Luke Bracey, Hugo Weaving and Rachel Griffith. Take a look at the trailer in full below:
