REEL FACE: | REAL FACE: |
Andrew Garfield
Born: August 20, 1983 Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA | Desmond T. Doss
Born: February 7, 1919 Birthplace: Lynchburg, Virginia, USA Death: March 23, 2006, Piedmont, Alabama, USA (respiratory ailment) |
Teresa Palmer
Born: February 26, 1986 Birthplace: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia | Dorothy Doss
Born: December 16, 1920 Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Death: November 17, 1991 (car accident) |
Sam Worthington
Born: August 2, 1976 Birthplace: Godalming, Surrey, England, UK | Jack Glover
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Hugo Weaving
Born: April 4, 1960 Birthplace: Ibadan, Nigeria | Tom Doss
Born: abt 1894 Birthplace: Virginia |
Rachel Griffiths
Born: December 18, 1968 Birthplace: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Bertha Doss
Born: February 26, 1899 Birthplace: Virginia, USA Death: April 6, 1983, Lynchburg, Virginia, USA |
Nathaniel Buzolic
Born: August 4, 1983 Birthplace: Sydney, Australia | Harold Doss
Born: June 19, 1922 Birthplace: Lynchburg, Virginia, USA Death: March 13, 2007, Kearneysville, West Virginia, USA |
Matt Nable
Born: March 8, 1972 Birthplace: Australia | Gerald Cooney
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In researching the Hacksaw Ridge true story, we learned that Desmond Doss was drafted into the United States army in April 1942. He could have gotten a deferment because he worked as a ship joiner at a shipyard in Newport News, Virginia, but he wanted to serve his country. Electing not to bear arms, he made his way into the army medical corps. During March 1944, he shipped out along with the rest of the 77th Division (the Statue of Liberty Division) for the Pacific Theater, first to Guam, then to Leyte in the Philippines, and finally to partake in the allied invasion of Okinawa, an island 340 miles south of mainland Japan (only the latter is chronicled in the movie). "I felt like it was an honor to serve God and country," Desmond said. "We were fightin' for our religious liberty and freedom." -The Conscientious Objector Documentary
Yes. "He was always helpful to people," said his brother Harold, who was his best friend when they were boys. "He was not one that would give up. He didn't know how." The Great Depression left their father, a carpenter, despondent and turning to alcohol at times (though the movie greatly exaggerates this and makes him abusive). Instead, Desmond took after his mother, Bertha Doss, who taught him about compassion, helping others, and the importance of following Christ. His sister Audrey recalled a time when they were young and Desmond went the extra mile to help victims of an accident.
"Anyone sick he'd be there," said his sister. "It was announced on the radio, we didn't have TVs in those days, it was announced there was an accident on Route 29 and they needed some blood right away to save this woman's life. He walked three miles to that hospital and walked three more miles back home after he gave blood. Two days later, a call came back over the radio, they need more blood. There he goes again, walks the three miles, then walks three miles back." In the movie, Desmond is motivated to give blood in order to get to know Dorothy, who works as a nurse, but in real life he met Dorothy Schutte at church. -The Conscientious Objector Documentary
The Hacksaw Ridge true story reveals that Desmond Doss married Dorothy Schutte on August 17, 1942, before going on active duty. "The reason I married him [was] because it seemed I could trust Desmond," says Dorothy. "He was a good Christian and I figured he would help me go to Heaven. That's what I told my mother. ... He appreciated me because I've never kissed any other men. He was the first one I ever kissed." Desmond first met Dorothy, a fellow Seventh-day Adventist, at church in Lynchburg, Virginia when she came through from Richmond selling Adventist books. The movie changes the timeline of their marriage (he didn't miss their wedding day because he was denied a pass and then put in a holding cell).
Yes. "He knew he was gonna have difficulty," said his sister Audrey, "because he doesn't use a gun." He went to South Carolina to join the 77th Division and begin his basic training at Fort Jackson. The army initially refused his request to be a medic and assigned him to a rifle company, figuring that peer pressure (and intimidation) might convince him to handle a weapon. His fellow soldiers regarded him as a pest and thought he was putting on an act. The Hacksaw Ridge true story confirms that, like in the movie, they ridiculed him and didn't want to associate with him. "They made fun of me," says Desmond, who always carried a Bible in his pocket and prayed before bed. They called him "Holy Jesus" and "Holy Joe."
"You know, he'd say his prayers at night and everything, and some guys took their shoes and threw shoes at him and threw things at him, made fun of him right out in the open," recalled Ken Lafond, a battalion scout from Tucson, Arizona. "I don't think I could have taken what that guy did. I don't think I could have taken it, but he hung in there. He hung in there regardless of what they said or what they did." Contrary to the movie, there seems to be no record of Desmond ever getting pulled out of bed and beaten in the night. In addition, the movie's early antagonist, Smitty (portrayed by Luke Bracey), appears to be a fictional composite of some of Desmond's tormentors.
The Medal of Honor recipient remembers some of the threats. "One fella, he told me, 'I swear to God Doss, you go into combat, I gonna shoot you.'" After a month of being in the infantry, the army decided to grant him his wish and transferred him back to the medical corps. -The Conscientious Objector Documentary
Yes. "I went to my battalion commander, Colonel Gerald Cooney," recalled the real Jack Glover (portrayed by Sam Worthington in the movie), "and I suggested that, in my opinion, Doss should be transferred." It should be noted that after later fighting alongside Desmond, Jack Glover's opinion of him changed entirely. "He was one of the bravest persons alive, and then to have him end up saving my life was the irony of the whole thing." -The Conscientious Objector
No. In the movie, Desmond's father, Tom Doss (Hugo Weaving), contacts his former commanding officer who writes a letter that stops Desmond from being court-martialed (a scenario that never happened in real life). According to the true story, when Desmond was denied leave for refusing to touch a gun, his father contacted the chairman of the church's War Service Commission in Washington, Carlyle B. Haynes. The chairman made a call to the regimental commander, Colonel Stephen S. Hamilton, asking if it was necessary for him to come investigate the situation with Desmond Doss. The colonel told him no and that they would straighten things out. Desmond still had to wait for his furlough, but as a result of his father's actions, he was given a 3-day pass to go home and see his brother Harold before he returned to the Navy to go overseas. -Hero of Hacksaw Ridge
A fact-check of the Hacksaw Ridge movie supports that the United States invaded the island of Okinawa in order to use the island as an air base for an invasion of mainland Japan, which is only 340 miles away. Japanese forces were deeply entrenched on the island, hammering American troops from caves and tunnels, in addition to setting booby traps. Private Desmond Doss and his battalion were ordered to ascend a jagged 350-foot escarpment called the Maeda Escarpment, which was heavily fortified with Japanese defenders. -Medal of Honor: Oral Histories
Okinawa's Maeda Escarpment is an approximately 350-foot high ridge that runs across most of the island of Okinawa. "The Japanese had been there for years," said the real Desmond Doss. "They had that mountain honeycombed and camouflaged, it looked like natural terrain. That's what we had to face." The Japanese were hiding everywhere, in caves, tunnels, holes and pillboxes, ready to cut down any enemies who approached. The escarpment was so deadly it was dubbed "Hacksaw Ridge."
U.S. soldiers who were involved in the battle to take the ridge recall stacking the bodies of fallen Americans as high as they could reach and wading through 200 yards of mud puddles that were saturated with blood. The machine gun fire was sometimes so thick that men would be cut in half. -The Conscientious Objector Documentary
Yes. The Japanese focused on taking out medics in order to demoralize their enemy. "They preferred to get us above anyone else," Desmond said. "They would let the infantry get by just to pick off a medic, because if they killed the medics, it broke down the moral of the men." Like in the movie, the medics removed any identifying symbols. -The Conscientious Objector Documentary
Yes. Facing heavy mortar, artillery and machine gun fire, the majority of the battalion retreated back down the Maeda Escarpment, leaving dozens of casualties behind to face death or capture at the hands of the Japanese. "I had these men up there and I shouldn't leave 'em," said Desmond. "They were my buddies, some of the men had families, and they trust me. I didn't feel like I should value my life above my buddy's, so I decided to stay with them and take care of as many of them as I could. I didn't know how I was gonna do it." Like in the Hacksaw Ridge movie, he dragged them to the edge of the cliff and attempted to lower them down the escarpment. -Medal of Honor: Oral Histories
While lowering the men down the ridge, the Japanese had a clear shot at Desmond Doss. Though it's not depicted in the movie, one Japanese soldier recalled having Desmond in his sights, but every time he went to fire, his gun jammed. -The Conscientious Objector Documentary
Army medic Desmond Doss had found a way to single-handedly rescue roughly 75 of his wounded comrades while under heavy mortar and gunfire. Doss estimated the number of lives he saved to be 50, but his commanding officer wanted to credit him with saving 100 lives, so they compromised at 75 (Library of Virginia). It was for this feat that President Truman awarded Doss the Medal of Honor on October 12, 1945. "When my time came, I went up," said Doss of the ceremony. "President Truman, he came out and he stepped over the line, he caught me by my hands, shook my hand like I was an old-time friend, somebody he had known all his life. He didn't even give me a chance to get nervous" (Medal of Honor: Oral Histories).
Yes. The final assault to take the Maeda Escarpment happened on the morning of May 5, 1945, a Saturday, the day of Sabbath, which the Fourth Commandment says should be devoted to prayer. Given that Desmond was the only medic left in B Company, he agreed to go but requested that he first be given time to read his Bible. The delay was approved up the chain of command and the assault was put on hold until Desmond finished his devotions. That day, the 307th Infantry Regiment of the 77th Infantry Division overtook Hacksaw Ridge for good. -The Conscientious Objector Documentary
Yes. On the night of May 21, 1945, just a half mile past the escarpment on Okinawa, Desmond's unit inadvertently walked into a company of Japanese soldiers. The unit engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy and Desmond scrambled to treat the wounded. "They begin to throw these hand grenades," recalled Desmond. "I saw it comin'. There was three other men in the hole with me. They were on the lower side, but I was on the other side lookin' when they threw the thing. I knew there was no way I could get at it. So I just quickly took my left foot and threw it back to where I thought the grenade might be, and throw my head and helmet to the ground. And not more than half a second later, I felt like I was sailin' through the air. I was seein' stars I wasn't supposed to be seein', and I knew my legs and body were blown up." The blast left 17 pieces of shrapnel embedded in Desmond's body, mostly in his legs. -The Conscientious Objector Documentary
Yes. In a letter home to his wife Dorothy, written on May 31, 1945, he informed her that while being treated on the hospital ship Mercy, he realized he had lost his little Bible when he was wounded. It was the Bible she had given him before he shipped out. He told Dorothy that he hoped someone had found it and was holding it for him. "That was my main source of strength all during the war and in the service," Desmond said later, "and then when I lost it, I was lost." The men of Company B learned that it was missing and risked their lives to find it for Desmond, which they did. -The Conscientious Objector
"I knew if I ever once compromised, I was gonna be in trouble," said Desmond, "because if you can compromise once, you can compromise again." -The Conscientious Objector Documentary
Desmond's life wasn't easy after the war. His wounds left him 90% disabled. He spent five and a half years in and out of VA hospitals and was discharged in August 1951. He had lost 5 ribs and one lung due to tuberculosis contracted on the island of Leyte in the Philippines and made worse on Okinawa. The military continued to treat him with antibiotics, which he believed by 1976 had made him completely deaf (possibly from giving him too high of a dose). He lived in silence for twelve and a half years, until he received a cochlear implant in 1988.
After WWII, Desmond received a modest pension from the military, but due to his disabilities from his injuries, his wife Dorothy got her nursing degree and had to work full-time to help with their income (in the movie she is already a nurse when they meet). He cashed in his Government life insurance policy to buy four acres in Rising Fawn, Georgia, using much of the money to fix up the property. He, his wife Dorothy, and their son Desmond Jr. (who they called "Tommy" after his middle name) resided in a small log cabin that he built on the land. They grew their own fruits and vegetables to help sustain themselves and eventually farmed the land. Desmond also worked part-time as a cabinetmaker and tried various other jobs that his health would allow, including raising tropical fish, door-to-door sales, and working as a maintenance man. Later in life, Desmond's wife Dorothy developed breast cancer and passed away from injuries sustained in a car accident while Desmond was driving her to a hospital in November 1991. He married Frances Duman in 1993. They were together until his death in 2006. -The Conscientious Objector
Dig deeper into the Hacksaw Ridge true story by watching the Desmond Doss interviews below. The Medal of Honor interview features Desmond opening up about his decision not to bear arms, and the This Is Your Life episode reunites him with some of his former comrades.