Thank you both!

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Re: Reader: The Most Unlikely Hero — Desmond Doss

Outstanding! Brought tears to my eyes.

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Andrew Garfield entered the Chattanooga National Cemetery recently, stepping as close as he could to the man he will try to become.

The actor visited the grave of Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor.

Doss, who lived much of his life in Rising Fawn, Ga., refused to carry a gun during World War II, his religious convictions weighing too heavily upon him. Instead, he became an Army medic. And during a battle in Okinawa, as Japanese fighters aimed at an uncovered, unarmed man for 12 hours, Doss saved 75 wounded Americans.

He returned home a national hero and retired to a quiet life in a small house on Lookout Mountain. Harry Truman called him "the little skinny pharmacist's mate," the only conscientious objector he knew who was "on the level."

But after the war, Doss was guarded about who could tell his story. "True Comics" featured him in an April 1946 edition, and he appeared in an episode of "This Is Your Life" in 1959. He also allowed for a biography in 1967, called "The Unlikeliest Hero."

For the most part, however, he shooed away offers to make himself a character in popular culture. Family and friends say he turned down several offers to see his likeness in movie theaters. He was a devout Seventh-day Adventist and feared the movie would idolize him.

He wanted his story told straight, wanted people to see a soft-spoken man from Lynchburg, Va., whose mother taught him the Ten Commandments and whose father drank too much. He feared a Hollywood cast would turn him into a superhero.

But later this month, when filming of "Hacksaw Ridge" begins in New South Wales, Australia, that exact type of cast will get its shot to tell his story. Garfield, perhaps best known for his role as Spider-Man, will become the first person to portray Doss.

The movie is a major production. Robert Schenkkan, who has a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award to his name, wrote the screenplay. Vince Vaughn and Sam Worthington play key characters. Mel Gibson will direct.

"If it's done the way it needs to be done," said Gabe Videla, who helped produce a documentary of Doss and is attached to the project, "it's going to get an Academy Award nomination."

"This is Oscar material," added Charles Knapp, chairman of the Desmond Doss Council, the group that owns his life rights.

What would Doss, who died in 2006 at the age of 87, think about all of this?

Would it be too big a fuss?

Those close to him say no, that he had a change of heart late in life. He wanted younger generations to hear his story, and the movie theater would be the best venue.

About 15 years ago, he began meeting with Terry Benedict. Like Doss, Benedict grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist church. He had read Doss' biography. And when he heard others in the church saying that Doss wanted to make a movie, Benedict reached out.

He agreed that a feature film would be great. But he wanted first to shoot a documentary. Those who served with Doss were dying, and Benedict wanted to preserve the historical record on film before it was too late.

His documentary, "The Conscientious Objector," came out in 2004. It told viewers about Doss' time in the military, how he explained to his superiors that his faith would not allow him to kill another man. Others in the Army thought he was making excuses.

He trained to be a medic, but Army officials made him a private in a rifle company to test him. Some soldiers called him a pest or a liar. They resented him for taking Saturdays off. When he prayed at night, some threw boots at him. A captain threatened to remove him, though Doss swore he wanted to serve, just not with a gun.

Then they went to war, and his company shipped off to Okinawa. During the battle on Hacksaw Ridge, Doss dragged 75 injured Americans to safety, sometimes more than 100 yards away. As Japanese soldiers fired at him, Doss ran across the field for 12 hours, back and forth. At a ledge, he tied ropes around the wounded Americans and lowered them to safety, where other medics waited.

"That's the story of Desmond," Benedict said. "It's not his character arc. It's that he changed the world around him. It's magic."

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2015/sep/18/back-life-after-years-reluctance-and-heros-bu/325798/