The Story of the Courageous Medic: Hacksaw Ridge

Last night I watched Hacksaw Ridge, a war drama evocatively portraying the courage and compassion exemplified by Desmond Doss, played by Andrew Garfield, in the decisive battle of the US Marines versus Japs in Okinawa, Japan during World War 2. The title Hacksaw Ridge is the cliff 400 high just beyond the Okinawa shores. On this battlefield lies the underground tunnels and quarters of the seemingly inextinguishable Japanese Imperial Army. Given this geographical feature of the Hacksaw Ridge, the Japs had the advantage. In this battlefield, Doss remained to tend and rescue his soldier comrades trapped and injured to climb back down to the plains.

The film was remarkable. Mel Gibson's comeback in directorial deserves an Oscar award so does the actors in it. Garfield was tremendous. You can definitely feel his emotions and his faith will move you. His friend Smitty, played by Luke Bracey, was really good, too. The way Bracey wore his US Marines uniform was perfect. He looked pretty much like those US Marines who fought in Vietnam War. At the boot camp, I can't help but laugh at Sergeant Glover. He shouts monikers and commands too hilarious not to laugh at. Doss had a pretty rough time at training due to his moral and religious beliefs. He is a 7th Day Adventist, and personal reasons made him promise to never fire any gun. He was taunted, beaten to give up but remained steadfast to his goal. I almost cried when he tried to wear his uniform after being brutally beaten up by his squad mates on his sleep. 

What his comrades did not expect is that the person they believed to be useless in the battlefield for refusing to shoot turned out to be the bravest of them all after saving the lives of 75 other wounded soldiers: American or Japanese. As his captain had told him, he did more than anyone ever had in this war. 

I know I am typing random thoughts about this movie. I just can't find the words to describe it. All I want to do is just watch this movie again. This morning I told daddy, my father in law, that he should watch the film as well. He got excited hearing it's also about World War 2. We share the same interests in war movies especially in WW1 & WW2 history. His father, my husband's grandfather also served as a medic while my grandfather in my papa's side was a scout ranger/soldier during WW2 here in the Philippines. Both were war veterans. Too few of the WW2 veterans were left now, and I keep wanting to hear more about their stories.