"We were fightin' for our religious liberty and freedom." - The Conscientious Objector Documentaryįact-checking Hacksaw Ridge confirmed that he refused to carry a weapon because of his personal and religious beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist, which is part of the Protestant sect of Christianity. "I felt like it was an honor to serve God and country," Desmond said. 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). Electing not to bear arms, he made his way into the army medical corps. 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.
In researching the Hacksaw Ridge true story, we learned that Desmond Doss was drafted into the United States army in April 1942. Desmond Doss, Medal of Honor: Oral Histories You can't always win, but when your buddies come to you and say they owe their life to me, what better reward can you get than that.