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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016
Son reflects on dad’s story depicted in ‘Hacksaw Ridge’
By HAYAT NORIMINE
The Daily News
TACOMA, Wash. — Mel
Gibson’s new film “Hack-
saw Ridge” tells the story of
a World War II soldier, Des-
mond Doss, who won the Con-
gressional Medal of Honor for
single-handedly rescuing 75
wounded soldiers.
On an escarpment known
as “Hacksaw Ridge” on Oki-
nawa, Doss refused to find
cover, plunged into the line
of fire to find his injured com-
rades, and one by one lowered
them down a cliff with rope to
friendly hands. He may have
even helped a few wounded
Japanese soldiers, reported
The Daily News.
“One more,” Andrew Gar-
field — who plays Desmond
Doss — repeats to himself as
he lowers another wounded
soldier to safety, his hands
soaked with blood. “Lord,
please help me get one more.”
But this is no ordinary
war hero. A devout Seventh
Day Adventist, Doss refused
to touch a gun. He was the
first conscientious objector
to receive the Congressional
award. And his son Desmond
Doss Jr., of Ilwaco, says the
movie is ultimately not about
war or patriotism. It is about
love. About a man who gave it
unconditionally.
‘Love story’
“This movie is really a love
story,” Doss Jr. said. “That’s
what we need in this world
is more caring for each other.
And here’s an example of
somebody that was a vehicle
for some incredible love.”
Desmond Doss Jr. said it
was a “perfect” portrayal of
his father. It’s like he came
alive on the screen, he said.
Garfield, an Australian, per-
fected Doss Sr.’s mannerisms,
from his Southern dialect to
his “quiet determination.” So
it was emotional for both of
them when Desmond Jr. met
Garfield.
“He asked me what I
thought of what he did. I said,
‘You nailed it. It’s perfect.’ And
he was moved by that,” Doss
said. “He wanted to do that. He
wanted to become my father.”
Desmond Doss Sr. grew
up in Virginia and was drafted
in 1942. He became a private
first class for the 1st Battal-
lion, 307th Infantry in the 77th
Division, but spent his first two
years persecuted by the U.S.
Military. His nuanced, quiet
strength throughout those
challenges were perfectly cap-
tured on the big screen, Doss
Jr. said.
“I just couldn’t believe it,”
Doss said. “I was just com-
pletely taken by it. I thought I
was watching my mother and
my father.”
Heroic act
Doss said his father’s
heroic act on Hacksaw Ridge
was not a one-time incident.
He had received the Bronze
Star for his work as a combat
medic on Guam and the Phil-
ippines. But even before that,
his son said, Doss was a man
of unconditional love, day in
and day out.
Bill Wagner/The Daily News
Ever since the portrayal of his father in the current movie Hacksaw Ridge, Ilwaco, Wash.,
resident Desmond Doss, jr. has been flooded with emails and letters regarding his father.
The one he is holding is from a woman in North Dakota with excerpts of her father’s
diary from the time he and Doss’ father fought together on Okinawa during World War II.
He found his faith as a boy,
inspired by a poster of the 10
Commandments on the wall of
his home. The Sixth stuck out:
“Thou shalt not kill.” Even
before he entered the mili-
tary, young Desmond’s faith
was tested by his father, Wil-
liam Doss, who was abusive
toward his mother. That strug-
gle is depicted in the film, too.
Desmond Doss Sr. did not
always receive considerate
treatment in return. Because
the solider refused to bear
arms, an officer tried to have
him discharged on grounds of
mental illness. He also tried to
court-martial Doss for refusing
a direct order.
“Sometimes I hear people
saying he was patriotic. Well he
was, but that’s not the point,”
Doss said. “The point is he just
had this love for people.”
Doss Jr., who cleans the
post office and volunteers as
a firefighter, said he’s not reli-
gious himself but has a spiri-
tual life.
“I can’t imagine life without
it,” he said. “There’s a state-
ment in the Bible that says God
is love. ... I try to think in those
terms — what’s loving, what’s
caring, what’s compassionate.”
For Desmond Doss Jr.’s
first five years of childhood, he
wasn’t allowed to see his dad.
Desmond Doss returned home
in 1946 with serious injuries in
his arm and legs. He had con-
tracted tuberculosis. Desmond
Jr. was 5 years old by the time
his father was no longer conta-
gious and able to check out of
the hospital.
‘Never over’
“The war is never over. It’s
just never over,” he said. “It
affects the people that were
there ... but it goes way beyond
that. It affects the families. It’s
very disruptive to life.”
Desmond Doss Sr. died
in 2006 at his home in Ala-
bama. Film directors had been
after him for years to make a
movie, but he only authorized
Gibson to do a feature film. A
book about his life is called
“The Unlikliest Hero.”
Doss Jr. said he didn’t have
a “normal” life with his par-
ents; much of it was surreal,
like moments when he would
find himself in a room with
hundreds of Medal of Honor
recipients.
Even now, his father con-
tinues to influence his life in
unbelievable ways. Doss Jr.
was quietly working at the
post office in Ilwaco when
calls began streaming in about
his father. He’s met movie
stars and Mel Gibson. And he
just returned home a week ago
after a trip to California to see
the premiere and across the
country.
What his father did in
World War II was a “natural
outgrowth” of who he was,
his son said. And now, more
than ever in a world of divi-
sion, Desmond Doss Jr. said
he hopes people get the right
message out of the movie.
“That’s who he was. ...
Some people know who they
are. I sincerely hope that
people walk away with that
insight and connection with
their own self. Who am I?
What’s intrinsic to me?” he
said. “Am I fearless or am I
fearful?”
Rescues in Washington’s Bainbridge woods just got easier
By TRISTAN BAURICK
Kitsap Sun
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND,
Wash. — The Bainbridge park
district is trying a high-tech
solution to the age-old problem
of finding injured hikers.
The district is installing
rescue locators in its forested
parks and across its grow-
ing network of interconnected
trails.
If a hiker twists an ankle or
a mountain biker crashes, a 911
caller can tell the dispatcher
the number on the nearest loca-
tor. Each locator is coded with
GPS coordinates that emer-
gency responders can use to
zero in on the injured person,
reported the Kitsap Sun (http://
bit.ly/2fxwhxP).
“Now emergency person-
nel know exactly how to get
to them, cutting down their
response time to a minimum,”
said Dan Hamlin, park services
director.
The first 30 locators were
installed in Grand Forest Park,
a 240-acre swath of woods
with 6 miles of trails and sev-
eral trailheads. People regu-
larly get lost in the park, spur-
ring the district in 2014 to try
another techie fix: trail markers
that activate smartphone maps.
Borne of tragedy
Tristan Baurick/Kitsap Sun
A rescue trail locater in the Grand Forest on Bainbridge
Island, Wash. The Bainbridge park district has installed
about 30 rescue locaters in the 240-acre Grand Forest
Park to help emergency responders find injured trail us-
ers.
Two years ago, a group of
friends were hiking Grand For-
est when a man in their party
suddenly keeled over.
A frantic 911 caller was
clear about the emergency:
heart attack. But the other crit-
ical detail — location — was
unknown.
“It was very confusing
because they didn’t know
where they started and they
didn’t know where they were,”
said Luke Carpenter, the Bain-
bridge Island Fire Depart-
ment’s assistant chief. “We had
all these units running around
trying to find this individual.”
It was fortunate for the
hiker that a CPR-trained park
employee happened to be
working nearby. He kept the
hiker breathing until an ambu-
lance crew eventually located
them.
Four months later, Bain-
bridge middle school moun-
tain bike coach Jay Abbott suf-
fered crippling injuries during
a training ride in the park. He
died four days later.
“It was a tragic outcome,”
Carpenter said. “I put the onus
on the park district, and said:
‘Folks, you got any ideas to
help us find people? Because I
don’t.”’
Park staff did have some
ideas, thanks to a training
hosted by American Trails, a
California-based trails advo-
cacy group.
“It was a webinar about
trail signage, but there was
some mention about these res-
cue locators,” Hamlin said. “It
seemed like just the thing we
needed.”
Sometimes a big fix comes
easy and cheap.
Recording
coordinates
for the 30 locater sites sim-
ply required staff to take a few
hikes with a GPS unit.
Dozens of trail markers
already were installed, so there
was little added cost.
“It was pretty inexpensive
— just buying some decals,”
Hamlin said.
Total cost: $60.
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Bringing CENCOM, the
county’s 911 service, onboard
was surprisingly uncompli-
cated. CENCOM simply
plugged the 30 sets of coor-
dinates into its own locator
system.
“They were great,” Hamlin
said. “They just loaded them
right in. That was it.”
Not widely used
Beyond Bainbridge, the res-
cue locator system is not yet
widely used. One early adopter
was the TRACKS trail group in
northeast Arizona. The group’s
volunteers installed hundreds of
the GPS-coded markers across
the 200-mile White Mountains
Trail System in 2013.
Volunteer Nick Lund said
rescues used to take hours.
Now they’re typically com-
pleted in under 45 minutes.
The Grand Forest system has
been used at least once since it
was activated during the spring.
“It was a sprained ankle,
I think,” Carpenter said. “It
wasn’t a significant event for
us because we found them so
easily.”
The district plans to expand
the system to the 445-acre
Gazzam Lake Preserve, which
links Fort Ward and Blakely
Harbor parks.
“We have so many trails that
are interconnected and go long
distances,” Hamlin said. “Peo-
ple might know where they left
from, but they have no idea
where they are when they call.”
Carpenter said his depart-
ment is grateful for the help.
“When seconds count, we
have to know where a patient
is,” he said. “This has proven to
help us do our job.”
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The district’s rescue loca-
tor program is the first of its
kind in the county. It was borne
out of a recent tragedy and a
near-tragedy.
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