“Hacksaw Ridge” is a true story about Pfc. Desmond T. Doss, who won the Congressional Medal of Honor without firing a single shot and saving 75 men in the battle of Okinawa. Doss grows up in a strict abusive family household under his father who suffers from PTSD from WW1. His father shows abusive behavior towards his mother, and Doss grows up with fear. His father had put up a nice frame with the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer illustrated on it on the wall when he was young. He looked at the frame from time to time and the 6th commandment, “thou shalt not kill” stuck out to him the most. Before enlisting in the military for the WW2, he was a carpenter. He had a job in the defense plant and he could have taken a deferment, but he didn’t because he knew he had to fight on the frontline just like everyone else to protect this country. He had energy and the passion to serve as a combat medic. He says when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, he took it personally. His training in the military was rough.

On top of all the rigorous training, he suffered from harsh and unfair treatment from his fellow men and military instructors. They would physically abuse him, beat him up, and mentally abuse him as well. They would always separate him from the rest and called him a coward. His drill instructor would also strictly separate him from the rest and military personnel tries to stop him from going into the war. However, through a nerve wrecking military trial, he was granted the right to go into war as a combat medic, and as a conscientious objector. In the war, he shows his courage and bravery going into the hellfire without a single weapon to protect himself. He saves his fellow men, even those who had abused him. He delivers injured men from the battle to safety night and day. He plays a crucial role in the victory of the battle of Okinawa.

Watching this movie sparked patriotism in me. The words Desmond T. Doss says really encourage us to think that America is our country and we should take things personally when it comes to our country. He teaches us many valuable lessons in this movie. To fight for our voice, to be brave, and to be forgiving. Doss fights constantly for his right and his voice as a conscientious objector during his training. But he doesn’t give up. He fights for his voice until his rights were granted. He shows bravery to fight in the battlefield as a combat medic in no less danger than anybody else, but without a weapon. He teaches us to be forgiving as he saves the ones that abused him without differentiating who to save.

This movie also reflects how important family is and how valuable our life is. No matter how strong you may look, in a life or death situation, you become desperate to live. You become desperate to see your family one more time. This makes us think back on things we take for granted such as living a daily life, staying at home, going home with a warm family to greet you. One quote that sticks with me the most is “While everyone is taking lives, I’m gonna be saving it. With the world so set on tearing itself apart, it doesn’t seem such a bad thing to me to put a little bit back together.” This motivates me to be the positive influence in the world and to be the one to put little pieces of the world back together.