Hacksaw Ridge Turns 10: Mel Gibson Built Okinawa on an Abandoned Dairy Farm, and It Still Beats Most CGI War Movies

A young man who rejects violence and even refuses to fire a weapon, let alone hold it in his hands, enlists in the army to serve his country sounds like a far-fetched, made-up story. And yet, it happened to be an unbelievably true account of Desmond Doss , a “conscientious cooperator,” as he preferred to call himself, who signed up for the U.S. Army to become a combat medic. Despite facing backlash in training, including a court-martial threat, he managed to take part in his active field duty during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. His job was to save as many lives as he could with the rest of the American soldiers battling against the Japanese on the titular ridge. What’s even more amazing is that he chose to stay behind as the counterattacking Japanese increasingly overwhelmed the outnumbered U.S. troops, forcing the latter to retreat instead. Even when Doss was mostly alone, he is still credited with saving 75 lives with no guns, just pure faith, courage, and his medical supplies.

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