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Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ002131A
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00:01 Sounds of war
00:22 It began on the 21st of July 1944. Allied soldiers landed 00:28 Here Asan Beach on the Island of Guam. They had to take 00:32 it back from the Japanese soldiers firing with machine 00:35 guns and artillery dug into pill boxes and caves. They had 00:40 had established strong defensive positions all along this coast 00:45 line. It would become one of the crucial battles of the war in 00:53 the Pacific. Many servicemen had to sacrifice their lives. Much 00:58 blood would be poured out on the Guam beaches. Many casualties 01:02 would be scattered throughout the island's jungle interior. 01:08 And yet one soldier would make a name for himself by saving 01:13 lives. He refused to bear arms or carry a weapon in the midst 01:18 of constant enemy fire. He was unwilling to take a life or even 01:23 so much as touch a weapon. He did, however, say that he would 01:28 be proud to serve his country as a medic if they would let him. 01:32 He was a conscientious objector who chose to fight, fight in a 01:37 way that would help people. He had the wild idea that he could 01:42 serve his country at war and also obey the command, Thou 01:46 shalt not kill. No one imagined he could pull that off. Most of 01:52 his comrades mocked and harassed him. His officers 01:56 tried to get him discharged, thrown out of the army, but when 02:00 the men of company B assaulted Hacksaw Ridge on the Island of 02:03 Okinawa something that happened that would change their opinion 02:09 forever. Medic Desmond Doss would be transformed 02:14 from the most 02:15 reviled to the most revered soldier. And would end up being 02:19 the first conscientious objector in American history to win the 02:24 Congressional Medal of Honor. You're never going to forget his 02:29 incredible story. 02:30 ♪ ♪ 03:06 Here on the Pacific island of Guam you can still see remnants 03:10 of the Japanese fire power which Allied troops had to face. 03:15 Retaking this island from Emperor Hirohito's fiercely 03:18 loyal and zealous troops wasn't easy. They were committed, 03:24 well trained and heavily armed. This was one of the key spots in 03:28 the Allied advance to Okinawa and Japan. But it was extremely 03:34 difficult and dangerous. The Japanese forces had prepared 03:39 strong defensive positions all along the coast. For example 03:45 this limestone outcrop at Agat beach disguises a Japanese 03:48 fortress that was designed to pour lethal fire on U.S. troops 03:52 landing here. It's a deadly stronghold with massive 03:56 antiaircraft guns, artillery pieces and bunkers all linked by 04:01 a network of tunnels. It was virtually impregnable from the 04:06 ocean. Here is Latte Stone Park you can still see the entrance 04:13 to several of the countless caves dug into the rock face 04:17 which Japanese soldiers used to protect their weapons from 04:21 Allied bombardments. Caves and pill boxes were scattered 04:25 through Guam's interior and time after time advancing 04:30 Marines would encounter withering machine gun fire from 04:34 places they couldn't see. The casualties mounted quickly. 04:38 (ocean sounds) Every army has medical personnel 04:48 of course. People who tried to rescue their fallen comrades. 04:54 Desmond Doss was one of them. He was dedicated to saving lives on 04:59 the battlefield. But on the Island of Guam, Doss faced a 05:05 special challenge. While fighting in this jungle, Allied 05:09 troops began to realize the Japanese were actually targeting 05:14 medics. It was their way of trying to break down morale. 05:18 More and more were being shot at as they cared for the wounded 05:21 So many medics took off their red crosses. They tried to just 05:25 fit in with the infantry men. But Desmond Doss began to stand 05:31 out. A documentary called The Conscientious Objector was made 05:40 by Terry Benedict shortly before Desmond passed away in 2006. 05:43 In it Desmond would recall what it was like caring for the 05:48 wounded with intense enemy fire all around him. This man didn't 05:53 just stick around the battalion aid station where he was 05:57 assigned. He was determined to try to save his fellow soldiers 06:02 wherever they were. He even insisted on going out with the 06:07 dogfaces on dangerous night patrol. 06:14 We'd go out, crawl around amongst our boys and see if they 06:16 weren't dead he'd take care of them, drag them back. 06:19 He wasn't supposed to do that? 06:21 He wasn't supposed to move at night. Them guys that's wounded 06:24 I got to go see about. That's my job. 06:29 But this is what is especially remarkable about Desmond's 06:33 experience on Guam. He'd been one of the most despised and 06:39 reviled soldiers in the military He'd barely survived his 06:40 training days because of his refusal to carry a weapon. 06:47 Why did this medic face all the Japanese machine gun fire here 06:52 without ever reaching for a rifle or pistol. Well the answer 06:57 goes all the way back to a picture on his living room wall. 07:01 My mother had a picture in the living room, a large picture 07:06 of the Ten Commandments. He would get up in a chair and he 07:14 was reading them. And he couldn't understand, 07:17 why did Cain kill Abel. 07:19 I wondered how in the world could a brother do such a 07:25 thing? To me it was said, Desmond, if you love me 07:31 you won't kill. As a result I 07:33 I didn't want to ever take life. 07:40 Then came World War II. Desmond was working in a ship yard at 07:46 the time. He could easily have gotten a deferment. Instead when 07:53 Uncle Sam called he gladly answered and this young man 07:59 began his army training at a base in Fort Jackson, South 08:01 Carolina. His beliefs didn't allow him to carry weapons, but 08:07 Desmond still chose to take part in the war in a way that would 08:09 help people and save lives. So he joins up as a medic. 08:16 The barracks where he stayed are still standing. Desmond 08:20 remembers the tough times there. The idea of a conscientious 08:26 objector wasn't understood well at the time. Several officers 08:31 insisted he had to train with weapons even if he was a medic. 08:34 Desmond actually wanted to be a conscientious cooperator but not 08:40 with a gun. His buddies didn't take well to him either. He 08:46 endured a lot of harassment, disdain and abuse. Often at 08:50 night as he knelt quietly by his bed to pray they would throw 08:55 boots at him. They just couldn't understand this guy who would 08:58 want to obey the words Thou shalt not kill in the midst of a 09:03 world at war. Some officers tried hard to humiliate Desmond, 09:10 to force a weapon on him, even to get rid of him with a 09:12 dishonorable discharge. But Desmond perseveres devoted to 09:18 prayer and worship even though other scoff. He was unwilling to 09:23 compromise his convictions. That showed his true fortitude and 09:28 character. (Sounds of gunfire) This is where everything started 09:38 changing. As his regiment became involved in combat missions, 09:42 Desmond's true courage shines. This is where that weird 09:48 religious guy became something of an icon. No one else seemed 09:52 so dedicated to helping his fellow soldiers, even with enemy 09:56 bullets whizzing by his head. Desmond was determined to save 10:02 life instead of take life. This man had the crazy idea that he 10:08 could serve his countrymen in the fierce and bloody war in the 10:11 Pacific and still honor God's principle that life is sacred. 10:16 Desmond himself would put it this way. I was fighting for 10:20 freedom by trying to save life, because I couldn't picture 10:24 Christ out there with a gun killing people, but I could 10:28 think of him out there with a medical aid kit. After a few 10:34 months on Guam Desmond moved on with his company to the 10:39 Philippine island of Leyte. Lots of fierce jungle fighting was 10:43 taking place there too. On Leyte the admiration of Desmond's 10:48 buddies turned into something like awe. They kept seeing him 10:52 scurrying around carrying the wounded under heavy enemy fire. 10:57 And the man just seemed impervious to Japanese bullets. 11:01 Because of Desmond's continual bravery during this campaign his 11:06 superiors recommended him for the Bronze Star. But it was here 11:13 on the Island of Okinawa that this unique medic would truly 11:17 make history. He landed here with the 77th Infantry Division 11:22 in April 1945. Okinawa was the last battle fought by the 77th 11:29 Division and the fiercest. It was the final push towards the 11:35 Japanese home islands. The battle was an extremely 11:39 difficult one made worse by the cliffs and the rough terrain. 11:44 And it all happened here at this Maeda escarpment also known as 11:49 Hacksaw Ridge. In May of 1945 the advance of the 77th division 11:56 of American troops to Okinawa had hit a big wall, 12:00 this cliff side. 12:02 They met the most stubborn resistance here. The Maeda 12:06 escarpment rises steeply out of Okinawa's central valley and it 12:11 runs almost the entire breadth of the island. Here it peaks in 12:15 a sheer rock cliff from 10 to 20 meters high. The Japanese had 12:22 completely fortified the escarpment. Lots of pill boxes, 12:26 a maze of tunnels and caves and, of course, soldiers armed to the 12:32 teeth. They managed to turn back several all-out assaults. 12:36 This is prove to be the worst battle in the violent Okinawa 12:40 conflict. But now orders came down from 10th Army headquarters 12:45 This ridge, Hacksaw Ridge, was to be taken at all costs. There 12:52 was no other way the Americans could advance toward a victory 12:55 over Japan. The first battalion assigned to this area was 13:00 spearheaded by Company B led by Captain Vernon. Those men 13:05 assigned to attack a pill box anchoring the Japanese line and 13:09 as they waited below this cliff gripping their rifles, ready to 13:14 fire their way to the top, Medic Desmond Doss stood faithfully 13:19 with them. Today the Maeda escarpment is a very green and 13:25 peaceful place so it's hard to imagine what it must have been 13:29 like back then. So in that documentary Desmond and some of 13:34 his old buddies returned to this place to try to remember. 13:39 Depression right here. 13:41 One thing they recalled is that their captain asked for a cargo 13:45 net to be brought up. The kind they hang over the side of a 13:48 ship. The rug net which soldiers use to climb down to those 13:52 landing craft. It seemed the only way they could get up this 13:56 cliff in a hurry. And Desmond was actually one of those three 14:01 men who volunteered to drag it up here. In a brief quiet moment 14:12 when the enemy had gone back into their tunnels, he would 14:15 stand here on this ridge and look down at what he had 14:20 accomplished. Yes Desmond would have a lot to remember here. He 14:26 would be asked to pray for his men in Company B before they 14:29 began the assault. Soldiers did manage to climb up that cargo 14:35 net. They did manage to throw grenades into pill boxes, aim 14:38 flame throwers into caves. But then the enemy fire would sweep 14:42 over them again, driving them off this Maeda escarpment of 14:46 Hacksaw Ridge. The Americans took over this ridge and then 14:51 were pushed back down over and over. For several days Hacksaw 14:57 Ridge changed hands. Many casualties of course and the 15:00 men kept seeing Desmond running down to get plasma for the 15:05 wounded as mortar shells exploded around him. He just 15:10 couldn't follow the standard procedure of only caring for 15:13 men who seemed to have a chance to survive. Desmond saw the 15:17 possibility of life no matter what. One of the wounded men, 15:22 Private John Centola would remember. Desmond Doss you know 15:28 was working on me and he says Take it easy, you'll be all 15:32 right he says. And I couldn't believe how calm he was while he 15:39 was working on me. I asked him, I say you don't have any 15:44 weapons. I say I'll give you a.45. He says no he says I 15:47 can't kill anybody, you know. He says that's my religion. 15:51 And I say to myself, here's a warrior. 15:54 This very different kind of warrior was just getting started 15:59 Now the men of Company B covered by sweeping fire from 16:03 the rear moved up and over the escarpment. And managed to throw 16:08 a few explosives down a large pillbox entry. A mighty rumble 16:15 shook the entire escarpment that set off an ammunition dump 16:19 underground. Well that seemed to be the turning point. But no, it 16:25 also set off another Japanese counterattack. Okinawa's 16:30 defendants poured out of caves and tunnels everywhere screaming 16:36 firing rifles and tossing grenades. Captain Vernon ordered 16:40 the men to dig in, but they were soon overwhelmed by sheer 16:44 numbers. Retreat turned into panic as soldiers rushed madly 16:50 back toward the cliff and tumbled down the cargo net. Many 16:54 were cut down by enemy fire. Only one man remained here on 17:02 top doing his job and that was Desmond Doss. Tending to the 17:07 wounded and fallen. He felt compelled to get them off this 17:12 ridge. Desmond had about 12 hours of light to get them down. 17:17 He began by dragging them to the edge and there he remembered 17:24 something that would greatly help; a bowline knot he'd 17:28 learned to tie as a kid. Desmond realized he could make the 17:32 double loop bigger and slip a man's arms through them. 17:35 Wrapping one end of the long rope around a sheltered tree 17:39 stump he could lower the man down the cliff to those waiting 17:44 under cover below. So that's what he did. Scurrying around 17:48 this ridge dodging a terrifying mixture of mortar and machine 17:51 gun fire, one wounded man after another, taken to the ridge, 17:57 lowered with a bowline. The men looking up could hardly believe 18:02 what was happening. 18:04 Time after time I saw Doss go back into the enemy or into the 18:10 Japanese and pick up wounded and bring them there and let them 18:15 down on these ropes and (indistinct) 18:18 The bullets were flying like bees or something. It was just 18:23 miraculous. I couldn't understand how he could do this. 18:27 Desmond kept praying, Lord please help me get one more. And 18:33 he kept succeeding even though when he had to stand up at the 18:36 edge of the cliff to begin lowering each wounded man, the 18:42 Japanese had a clear angle on his head and shoulders. Somehow 18:45 none of the bullets whizzing by caught this medic. Years later, 18:51 in fact, one of those Japanese soldiers would actually recall 18:55 that he had Desmond in his sites but his gun jammed every time he 19:01 pulled the trigger. This lone medic did spend 12 hours up here 19:06 He was preserving life with a vengeance. He joined the war to 19:12 help and heal. That day 75 men would owe their lives to him. He 19:18 rescued 75 single-handedly under intense enemy fire without ever 19:24 firing a gun. No one would ever forget that. After the war 19:32 Desmond Doss would be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor 19:36 by President Truman. We're all fascinated by this kind of 19:41 courage of course. We all wonder what makes someone like 19:45 this tick. What takes him to such a place far above human 19:49 fears and weaknesses. Well Desmond actually made the 19:54 reason pretty clear. He spotlighted the source of his 19:58 courage just a few days after saving 75 buddies. Captain 20:04 Vernon had to put together one more assault on the Maeda 20:08 escarpment. This one would prove the final one. Vernon tried to 20:12 prepare his men for what he knew would be the fight of their 20:16 lives. Some were new recruits sent in to replace the heavy 20:21 casualties and there was one man Vernon especially wanted 20:25 along on this mission. He walked over to a medic who sat nursing 20:30 a leg he'd injured in a tumble under the cliff. Captain Vernon 20:35 said Doss I know you don't have to go on this mission but the 20:39 men would like to have you with them and so would I. Desmond 20:44 had become a type of paladin, a champion to his colleagues 20:48 guiding them, protecting them through prayer giving his total 20:52 concentration to saving them and giving them aid. Then he 20:57 noticed Desmond's eyes, sunk deep into dark sockets, his 21:01 shoulders slumped. Exhausted. He haven't even had time to 21:05 change his cotton uniform now covered in the dried blood of 21:10 the men he'd saved. But this medic didn't hesitate. I'll go 21:14 Captain he said. But then he asked permission to finish 21:17 reading a passage of scripture. That's what he did regularly. 21:20 That's what was sustaining him in these violent and bloody 21:24 hours. His belief and trust in God gave him his courage and 21:30 strength through these challenging times. The captain 21:34 started to object. He knew the entire American advance in 21:39 Okinawa was hung up at this one spot. But he nodded. We'll wait 21:44 for you and walked off. As so the advance of an entire army 21:50 an entire Allied force paused as this single medic tapped into 21:56 source of spiritual strength, the Bible. He bowed his head in 22:00 prayer for a few moments, then stood up and tested his leg. 22:04 Desmond was relieved to find it still supported him. Now he was 22:09 ready. This medic joined his buddies and they finally took 22:15 Hacksaw Ridge for good. His Bible, prayer, his faith in God 22:21 gave Desmond the courage and strength to accomplish great 22:25 things. What a long way he'd traveled from those barracks in 22:30 Fort Jackson, the most reviled soldier had become the most 22:34 revered soldier. How different he'd become in the eyes of those 22:38 men who once threw their boots at him. They saw this skinny 22:42 guy with glasses, this awkward young staff who had a hard time 22:47 fitting in had suddenly become a hero, much larger than life and 22:52 they would find a way to express their admiration. A few days 22:56 after his heroic actions on the escarpment Doss was wounded here 23:01 by a sniper. He unselfishly let a more badly injured soldier 23:05 have his stretcher for evacuation off the battlefield. 23:11 Later as he was driven away in an ambulance the medic suddenly 23:15 gasped, My Bible! I've lost my Bible. It's okay, the driver 23:21 said, they'll get you another one on the ship. But Doss wanted 23:25 his Bible. The pocket Bible had carried him through the long 23:30 terror of war. And he made the driver promise to pass the word 23:35 to friends at the battalion aid station in case they'd seen it. 23:38 Well word did get back to Company B and guess what. All 23:44 those men walked up through the trees, fanned out over the 23:47 battlefield and began poking around shell holes, looking 23:52 under debris, retracing Desmond's steps, looking for his 23:55 lost Bible. They even had to keep an eye out for snipers and 24:00 booby traps. But they were quite willing to risk their 24:03 lives to look for that little book that their incredible 24:07 comrade valued so much. They kept looking until they found the 24:12 book that had helped create a Congressional Medal of Honor. 24:16 And they happily sent it back to Desmond. Yes the man they'd come 24:20 to love and respect. The book he so earnestly regarded as the 24:25 word of God. Have you ever wondered what might happen in 24:30 your life if you went out poking around for the word of God? 24:34 Have you ever thought the Bible could be much, much more than 24:38 just a book for religious types? Can you believe that it could 24:43 make your life much bigger than you could ever imagine? Well may 24:48 I invite you to give it a try. Give it trot. Why not make it a 24:53 genuine experiment? Why not see what God can actually do while 24:59 speaking his words to you. Give the Bible a try. You're life 25:03 will never be the same again. Let me extend an invitation to 25:08 you as we pray. Dear Father, I thank you for 25:13 this beautiful picture of how life can be affirmed even in the 25:17 midst of a world at war. I thank you for Desmond Doss, 25:24 showing us the potential power in relationship with your word 25:27 Bible. And so I pray that our viewers today will take it on, 25:33 give it a try and I pray they will begin to see what power 25:36 lies in its pages and what a big difference it can make to 25:39 our lives. I ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. 25:49 This story of Desmond Doss, the conscientious objector who went 25:55 to war to help and heal others has inspired people all over the 26:02 world. We all wonder what makes someone like this tick. 26:05 Well there was one source that Desmond Doss got his strength 26:10 and courage from. Prayer and Bible study. It was the Bible 26:15 that gave him peace in the midst of battle. Have you 26:20 ever wondered what 26:21 the Bible might be able to do in your life? It's a book 26:24 that has the power to transform and change lives. It brings true 26:29 peace and happiness. If that's what you're looking for in life 26:33 I would like to tell you about the free gift we have for all 26:37 our viewers today. It's a Bible, the book that brought peace to 26:43 Desmond Doss and helped him face the challenges of life. 26:45 And it could do the same for you. A free Bible is our gift to 26:51 you today. Here's the information you need: 26:56 Phone or text us at 0436333555 in Australia or 27:02 0204222042 in New Zealand or visit our website TiJ.tv to 27:10 request today's free offer and we'll send it to you totally 27:14 free of charge and with no obligation. Write to us at: 27:30 Don't delay. Call or text us now 27:34 The Incredible Journey and Pastor Gary Kent with Pastor 27:39 Louis Torres and Carol Torres as the principal trainers are 27:43 opening a Bible College in Sydney in February of 2020. 27:46 This 14-week program will give you the skills you need to be an 27:50 effective cola borer with Christ to carry the message of a 27:54 crucified, risen and soon coming Savior to the whole world. For 27:58 more information and to register phone or text us at: 28:01 0481315101. 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Revised 2020-07-20