During WWII, a young man from Lynchburg, Virginia was drafted into the Army and sent to the 77th Infantry Division. When he arrived at camp for basic training, he promptly made it known that he was a pacifist and would be unwilling to take a life or even so much as touch a weapon. He did however say that he would be proud to serve his country as a medic, if they would let him.

No matter how much pressure the Army applied, the medic was unwilling to compromise his convictions. The other soldiers in his unit came to hate the conscientious objector, going so far as to throw their boots at him while he knelt by his bunk at night to pray.

When the men of Company B assaulted “Hacksaw Ridge” on the island of Okinawa, something happened that would change their opinion of the medic forever.