By Dick Stenbakken
The name “Desmond Doss” is familiar to most Seventh-day Adventists, and will soon be known much more widely because of the Hollywood film Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson. The film quite accurately portrays the life and heroic actions of Doss, and it will undoubtedly raise questions about Adventists and military service.
Desmond Doss grew up in a family of great contrasts. While his mother was a devout Adventist, his dad suffered from what we would now call “post traumatic stress disorder” (PTSD)—which led to bouts of drinking and the abuse of both Mrs. Doss and the children.
When World War II broke out, Desmond had a job in a defense-related industry, but he chose to enlist in the Army to serve as a medic. Because of past experiences, he had vowed to never touch a weapon, let alone kill another human being. His conscience, however, compelled him to serve in the military and to be part of the fight against those threatening freedom. Many of his friends and local young men had already joined, as had his brother. Desmond felt he could do no less.
Basic training went well until it came time for weapons training. Doss explained that his conscience and convictions would not allow him to train with or use a weapon. He had joined to be a medic, in order to save lives, not take them. This stance was not well understood by his commanders nor by his unit. He was branded as a coward or a crazy man. He was subjected to both verbal taunts and physical beating. In spite of the pressures, he held to his personal convictions.
Note that these were personal convictions. While his church background certainly helped shape his convictions, the stance he took was because of his deeply-held personal convictions.
The unit commander wanted to have Doss discharged on a Section 8 (mental instability), but the ensuing interviews with psychiatrists and other medical personnel convinced those examining Doss that he was not crazy. Instead, he was an individual who had personal convictions that formed who he was, and the convictions were both genuine and permissible.
Not content with the medical reports, the command attempted to court-martial Doss for disobeying a direct order to train with a weapon. He was offered an easy way out: train with the weapon. The alternative threat was imprisonment if he was found guilty of disobeying the direct order. Doss, ever true to his convictions, pled not guilty to the charges because he deliberately chose to enlist to be a medic and to save lives, not take lives. He was not a coward, he was not crazy; he was a patriot who wanted to serve his country in a way that would not violate his conscientious convictions. The court case was dismissed and he was allowed to continue training with his unit, only without a weapon.
His fellow soldiers and superiors still branded him as a coward, but Doss shrugged this off and soldiered on.
When the group was assigned to combat in Guam and Leyte, Doss accompanied his troops as a medic, frequently placing himself in harm’s way to bring aid to the wounded. His service was so spectacular that he was awarded two Bronze Stars for what he did to save lives.
Then, the unit was assigned to Okinawa, specifically to assist with taking a Japanese stronghold known as Hacksaw Ridge. The only way to the top of the ridge was up a sharp cliff face via a rope ladder. On top of the ridge, the Japanese had built fortified bunkers, tunnels, and entrenchments. They were not willing to give up one square inch of ground.
When Doss’s unit scrambled up to the top of the rope ladders, all seemed quiet at first. Then all hell broke loose as the entrenched Japanese counter-attacked the U.S. forces in an attempt to push them off the battlefield. In the ensuing chaos, the American troops were ordered off the top of the ridge. After scrambling down the cliff, the commander realized that nearly 100 of his men were still on the battlefield either wounded or dead. Then the commander realized that Desmond Doss, his medic, was still on top.
Naval shelling began to pound the Japanese positions and as those explosives shattered the ground, the Japanese wisely retreated to their hardened positions, but there was one person constantly moving on the battlefield, Desmond Doss. He was looking for the wounded that could be saved.
Doss carried, dragged, and moved at least 75 men to the edge of the cliff. The question was how to get them down safely. Their wounds prevented them from climbing down, and he was alone. Then he saw a rope. In a flash, Doss tied special knots and formed a sling to lower the injured to safety below. It was exhausting work, but his prayer was, “One more, Lord. Just one more!”
The wounded helped provide cover as best they could while Doss lowered others, one by one, down the cliff.
For his heroics that day, Desmond Doss was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. It was the first time in history the highest military award was given to a non- combatant.
The man who was mocked for his conscientious stance became the hero of the unit. His conscience would not allow him to abandon the wounded. They were, after all, “his men,” and he was there to save lives.
Doss was not some kind of “goodie-goodie guy.” He did not see himself as a hero. He was a common man with an uncommon value system. He knew who he was and what he believed, and he stuck to those beliefs through mockery, scorn, threats, and gunfire. It’s who he was, and he did not compromise his convictions.
Desmond Doss reminds us that convictions are what make us who we are. Not the convictions of our parents, our family, our school, or our church, but convictions that have deep roots in our personal soul. Convictions that do not waiver.
Dick Stenbakken is a retired chaplain (Colonel, U.S. Army) and former director of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries for the world church. He lives in Loveland, Colorado.