Leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's North American territory praise filmmakers for introducing millions to the war-hero's story.
“Hacksaw Ridge,” the film depicting the life and heroic efforts of Seventh-day Adventist Army combat medic Desmond Doss during World War II, received six Oscar nominations. The Jan. 24, 2017, Academy Award announcement listed the nominations: Best Picture, Bill Mechanic and David Permut, producers; Best Director, Mel Gibson; Best Actor in a Leading Role, Andrew Garfield; Best Film Editing; Best Sound Editing; and Best Sound Mixing.
"It's an honor to have Desmond's story recognized by the Academy,” said Terry Benedict, the Adventist filmmaker who produced and directed the award-winning documentary on Doss entitled “The Conscientious Objector.”
“Everyone working on the picture knew they were on a very special film,” Benedict, also a producer on “Hacksaw Ridge,” added. “Never, as a little boy of 10 and reading his story, could I have known that this journey would culminate in such an impactful way."
These “recognition cement the Doss story of personal heroism, courage, bravery, integrity, fidelity, faith, and love into world history as an exemplary model of a Christian character,” said Charles Knapp, chair of the Desmond Doss Council, in response to the nominations.
Generations of Seventh-day Adventists have grown up with stories of Doss’s experiences. His heroic actions on Okinawa, in reportedly the bloodiest battle of WWII, were shared with Adventist youth at summer camps and in Pathfinder meetings for decades. Doss, who returned to carpentry after his discharge from the Army in 1945, in speaking to youth groups internationally and working with Pathfinders in North America, would teach groups of children the bowline knot he used to lower 75 injured soldiers to safety. His actions on the Maeda Escarpment awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military award in the United States.
“Everyone working on the picture knew they were on a very special film,” Benedict, also a producer on “Hacksaw Ridge,” added. “Never, as a little boy of 10 and reading his story, could I have known that this journey would culminate in such an impactful way."
These “recognition cement the Doss story of personal heroism, courage, bravery, integrity, fidelity, faith, and love into world history as an exemplary model of a Christian character,” said Charles Knapp, chair of the Desmond Doss Council, in response to the nominations.
Generations of Seventh-day Adventists have grown up with stories of Doss’s experiences. His heroic actions on Okinawa, in reportedly the bloodiest battle of WWII, were shared with Adventist youth at summer camps and in Pathfinder meetings for decades. Doss, who returned to carpentry after his discharge from the Army in 1945, in speaking to youth groups internationally and working with Pathfinders in North America, would teach groups of children the bowline knot he used to lower 75 injured soldiers to safety. His actions on the Maeda Escarpment awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military award in the United States.
Click here to read more about Desmond Doss and the film “Hacksaw Ridge.”
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