# Desmond Doss at Okinawa

By Yan Kurniawan

Topic: History

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/ktKnoa7hNpUA)

## Guide

### 1. A cliff called Hacksaw Ridge

Okinawa, Japan, spring 1945\. American soldiers had to climb this rocky cliff, the Maeda Escarpment, using big rope nets\. Soldiers nicknamed it Hacksaw Ridge\. This is the story of how one man brought about 75 hurt soldiers back down it\.

The whole ridge rises about 400 feet, with a steep rock face near the top\.

### 2. A medic with no weapon

Desmond Doss was an army medic: a soldier whose job is to care for the wounded\. Because of his faith, he refused to carry a gun\. His tools were bandages, medicine and rope\.

Medics wore a red cross on their helmets and sleeves\.

### 3. Left behind on top

The soldiers on top were pushed back and most climbed down to safety\. But many hurt men were left lying on the plateau\. Doss chose to stay with them\.

### 4. One man at a time

Doss reached each hurt man, bandaged his wounds, and pulled him to the edge of the cliff\. Then he put him on a stretcher, called a litter, ready to go down\.

### 5. Lowering on a rope

Doss tied each wounded man into a rope sling he made on the spot, using a strong knot called a double bowline\. Then he lowered him hand over hand down the cliff face\. Friends at the bottom caught each man and carried him to help\.

His Medal of Honor citation calls it a rope\-supported litter, lowered "to friendly hands\." Later accounts name the double bowline knot\.

### 6. Just one more

Then he went back for the next man, and the next, for hours, even as night fell\. He kept praying for the strength to save one more\. By the end, about 75 men were safe\.

Doss guessed 50 and his commander guessed 100, so his citation settled on 75\.

### 7. Hurt, but still giving

About two weeks later, Doss was badly hurt himself\. While being carried away on a litter, he gave up his place to a man who was hurt even worse\. Then, with his broken arm tied to a rifle stock as a splint, he crawled 300 yards to the aid station\.

### 8. The Medal of Honor

On October 12, 1945, President Harry Truman gave Doss the Medal of Honor, America's highest award for bravery\. He was the first conscientious objector to receive it: someone who will not fight or carry weapons because of what they believe\.

Drag the scene to look around the model\.