Is ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ Based On A True Story?

The 2016 historical drama Hacksaw Ridge follows Pfc (Private First Class) Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield), who serves in the US Army during World War II after being drafted despite refusing to use a gun as a Seventh-Day Adventist.

Doss, the son of Tom, a World War I veteran (Hugo Weaving), and the husband of Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer), originally enlisted as a medic.

Under the leadership of Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn, continues to abide by the sixth commandment, “thou shalt not kill,” while in training and in battle.

“I don’t know how I’m gonna live with myself if I don’t stay true to what I believe,” Garfield’s Doss utters in the trailer.

Doss ultimately saves 75 men during the historic Battle of Okinawa without ever firing a single shot.

The Mel Gibson-directed film — which is currently streaming on Netflix — earned Producer Bill Mechanic a 2017 Emmy nod for Best Motion Picture of the Year, and Garfield another Emmy nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.

So, is Hacksaw Ridge based on a true story? Read on to find out.

Is Hacksaw Ridge based on a true story?

Yes! According to Collider, the film is based on the historical accounts of Private Desmond Doss, who reportedly went onto the battlefield of the Maeda escarpment, which was called “Hacksaw Ridge.”He went in to save wounded soldiers, repeatedly chanting, “Lord, please help me get one more.”

The outlet noted that the film alleges he saved 75 soldiers, a number that was ultimately reached by splitting the difference Doss’ estimation that he saved 50 soldiers, while his team believed he saved 100.

Doss was awarded the Medal of Honor in October 1945, despite being what is called a “conscientious objector” to the war, per the National World War II Museum website.

Doss didn’t live to see his story make the big screen, as he died in 2006, a decade before the film was released. His only child, Desmond Jr., told People that “there was an endless stream of people coming through the door wanting to make a movie [or] write a book” about his father’s story, but that prior to Gibson’s film, “none of them adhered to [Doss’] one requirement: that it be accurate.”

“And I find it remarkable, the level of accuracy in adhering to the principal of the story in this movie,” he added.

Mechanic did admit to the outlet that he and Gibson “were not accurate on some of the details around it,” but added, “if you’re a slave to the complete facts, then you’re not making a movie that is compelling.”