The Maeda Escarpment on Okinawa rose 350 feet above the surrounding landscape. The Marines who climbed it called it "Hacksaw Ridge" because of the sharp coral and vegetation that cut through skin and gear.\n\nOn May 5, 1945, the 1st Battalion of the 77th Infantry Division was ordered to take the ridge. They were shredded. Artillery and mortar fire, hidden machine gun positions, and an enemy that fought to the death cut the battalion apart.\n\nCorporal Desmond T. Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist medic from Lynchburg, Virginia, stayed on the ridge. He refused to carry a weapon on religious grounds — he had been ridiculed for it during training, had boots and hymnals thrown at him, and had been nearly court-martialed.\n\nFor twelve hours, under continuous fire, Doss crawled across the ridge finding wounded soldiers. He tied rope to each man and lowered them 350 feet down the cliff face. Each trip he climbed back up through mortar fire to find the next man.\n\nHis estimated count: 75 men saved. His company commander estimated 100. Doss himself, when asked by his commanding officer how many he'd rescued, said: "I got 50, sir." He was always conservative in his estimates.\n\nWhen a grenade hit his left arm, he splinted it with a rifle stock and continued. When a sniper shattered his right arm, he treated the wound himself and kept working.\n\nHis mantra, repeated with each rescue: "Lord, help me get one more. Just one more."\n\nAfter the battle, Doss prayed before each rescue run. He said God told him which men to go to first, and in what order, and that's the only reason he survived.\n\nDoss was the first conscientious objector in American history to receive the Medal of Honor. President Truman hung it around his neck on October 12, 1945, and said: "I'm proud of you. You really deserve this. I consider this a greater honor than being president."