![]() It seemed like my article had missed its chance. This was right before the memorial service for the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa, and there was already a surplus of articles about the battle. Doss” written in ball point pen at the top.Īfter the interview, I sent the article to the Society section, but it was not published. I found them, six pages of notes with the name “Desmond T. I looked for the interview notes I had somewhere in my house. It was the story of the former serviceman I had interviewed when I worked at the Gushikawa bureau (now combined with the Chubu bureau). The story told of a combat medic who saved many people in the war, while refusing to carry a weapon due to religious belief. Interview notes from the Desmond Doss interview (from June, 1995)Īt the beginning of this month, I saw the trailer for Hacksaw Ridge on the internet. I wanted to heal by coming to grips with what happened here.Ģ2 years after the article, a note from the reporter who interviewed Desmond Doss ![]() He explained, “By coming here, I can confirm what happened then. While staying in Okinawa, he visited Maeda Kochi four times. By talking about my experiences I was able to conquer them.” Among my friends from the battle, I knew some whose nerves were completely shot. For whatever reason I saw my mother come to me on the battlefield, only to be killed by an explosion. Doss reflected “I could hardly sleep, and when I did in my dreams bombs would explode, killing me. He was taken to the military hospital in Guam, where he came down with tuberculosis, requiring the removal of one of his lungs.ĭoss continued to see the nightmares which plagued him while he was in the hospital. Then, while being carried away on a stretcher five hours later, he was struck in the left arm by a Japanese bullet. The next day, the Japanese Army threw some grenades into the trench Doss was in, injuring his leg. The soldiers began descending one-by-one down the cliffs, however the wounded soldiers were unable to move on their own and left behind.īecause of this, Doss stayed behind on the hill, and moved the wounded to the edge of the cliff, using a litter secured at the feet and chest to lower them down the cliff in an operation that took four hours. However, the Japanese Army lay in wait on the hill, and launched a violent attack led by mounted machine guns. I prayed for them to come back safely,” Doss reflected. The 150 soldiers attached to B Company scaled these cliffs to reach the top of the hill. These same cliffs accompanied Desmond Doss, who the main character in the movie is modeled after, in the Battle of May 5. The name of the movie, Hacksaw Ridge, comes from the jagged cliffs on Maeda Kochi in Urasoe. (Photo courtesy of the Desmond Doss Council) President Truman awarding Desmond Doss the Medal of Honor. A Christian Seventh-day Adventist, he volunteered for the Army with the condition that he not carry a weapon, to uphold is strongly held belief in the 10th commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” He explained, “I did not go to war to kill, but rather to save people.” On Doss and B Company became entangled in unbelievably bloody battle while climbing Hacksaw Ridge. In April of 1945, Doss landed on Okinawa with B Company, 1st Battalion, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. military’s 50th anniversary marking the end of the war, and he stayed from June 18-28. The visit in 1995 was to participate in the U.S. The visit to Okinawa was his second post-war trip to the island, the first being in 1969. By talking about my experiences I was able to conquer them.”ĭoss was 76 year-old at the time of the interview in 1995. According to him, “The dreams had continued for some time, but I do not see them anymore. army hospital five and a half years after the war for symptoms including persistent dreams of the battle, suffering from what we now know as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Doss, who was injured at Hacksaw Ridge (known as Maeda Kochi in Japan) in Urasoe during the fighting, was admitted to a U.S. ![]() Back in June of 1995, he met with Ryukyu Shimpo for an interview while visiting Okinawa. More recently, his likeness was depicted as the protagonist in the movie Hacksaw Ridge, which premiered throughout Japan on June 24. ![]() Desmond Doss (1919-2006) was the pacifist combat medic who refused to carry a weapon and saved 75 people in the Battle of Okinawa.
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