In the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, Desmond grows up with his family, including his brother
Hal, his very religious mother Bertha and his father Tom, who used to be a soldier.
Tom fought in the First World War and since he came back, he hasn't been the same.
He drinks a lot and his trauma causes him to be violent toward his family, so Bertha has to
explain to his kids that their father doesn't hate them, he just hates himself. Desmond and Hal get
along most of the time and they go on adventures through the mountains together, but they also get
into fights that Tom allows because then he only has to punish the winner. One afternoon, Desmond
defends himself with a brick, almost killing Hal in the process. Thankfully the boy survives,
but the experience of almost murdering someone leaves Desmond in shock, which isn't helped by
his mother when she reminds him that murder is the worst sin. Fifteen years later, while he's
helping at the local church, Desmond sees a man have an accident on the street and rushes to help.
After putting his belt around the man's leg as a tourniquet, Desmond takes him to the hospital,
where the doctor praises Desmond for thinking quickly because it saved the man's life.
Desmond gets to see the work nurses and doctors do, taking in the feeling of what saving lives is
like; he's always dreamed about being a doctor but he never got a proper education That day he also
meets nurse Dorothy and instantly crushes on her, even accepting to donate blood on the spot just
to talk to her. The next day, Desmond goes back to the hospital dressed all nicely to flirt with
Dorothy and ask her out. Their first date goes well, even if Desmond is still learning to talk to
women and Dorothy would've preferred it if he had asked before kissing her without warning. Since
then, the two start having a lovely relationship, and Desmond gets to learn more about medicine from
the books Dorothy lends him. Some days later, Hal announces he's joined the army to fight in World
War II and didn't tell his family until the deed was done because he knew they would be against it.
He turns out to be right: Bertha doesn't like the idea because killing goes against
god's commandments, and seeing Hal in uniform triggers Tom's trauma, making him ask his son to
leave the room. Shortly afterward, Desmond tells Dorothy he wants to enlist too, but as a medic.
To make things right, he decides to ask Dorothy to marry him, and she accepts,
the date they set is whenever he gets his first leave. Afterward, Desmond goes to talk to Tom, who
is at the cemetery visiting the graves of his best friends that died at war. After ranting about what
fools they were, Tom says he doesn't want to bury his sons as well and expresses his lack of hope
in Desmond being able to survive with just his beliefs. The day Desmond leaves for Fort Jackson,
Dorothy gifts him a Bible with a picture of her inside. Once he arrives at the fort, Desmond meets
all his fellow privates, including Smitty, who calls him "beanpole" while playing with a knife.
Their assigned sergeant is Howell, who takes them all by surprise when he arrives with a shout,
causing Smitty to drop the knife on his foot and not give time to another private to put on some
clothes. Howell is a stereotypical sergeant that yells at everyone for the sake of it and insults
them over their appearances, which Desmond finds pretty amusing. The sergeant doesn't take the
knife from Smitty's foot until he's done yelling, and makes the naked soldier start training without
clothes as punishment for not dressing up in time. During Desmond's training, his knots
turn out wonky, but he excels at the obstacle course thanks to his life in the mountains.
The real problem comes when weapon handling is next and he refuses to grab a rifle. Howell takes
Desmond to see Captain Glover at his office, where Desmond explains he had been told he wouldn't need
to grab a weapon and he wasn't supposed to be sent to a rifle company because he's a
Conscientious Objector, although he sees it more as a Conscientious Cooperator. He also points out
that as a Seventh-Day Adventist, he can't work on Saturdays because that's his Sabbath. Glover finds
the whole deal ridiculous and thinking he can't trust Desmond in battle if he can't follow basic
orders, he sends him to Section 8, psychiatric discharge. Afterward, Howell tells the other
privates about Desmond being an objector in the most condescending way, pointing out he can't be
depended on in battle. In the evening before bed, Smitty takes Desmond's Bible and tries to provoke
him into hitting him, but Desmond doesn't react and takes his Bible back after saying please.
The next day, Desmond goes through his psychic evaluation, explaining he doesn't hear holy
voices, he's perfectly aware that he's different but he's just a firm believer, not a crazy person.
The doctor comes to the conclusion that Desmond is fine and doesn't qualify for Section 8,
meaning he's legally allowed to work as a combat medic provided he does well in all the other areas
of his training. Glover still wants him gone though, so he orders Howell to keep Desmond in
the barracks. From then on, Desmond is stuck doing grueling labor like cleaning toilets.
Howell also kicks Desmond's bed over while informing everyone they won't get a free weekend,
implying it's Desmond's fault. Because of this, when night falls,
Desmond is beaten up by the other privates while Smitty wonders why he's staying. The next morning,
Howell sees Desmond's black and blue state and sincerely advises him to quit for his own good,
but Desmond refuses. He also won't give the sergeant the names of those who beat him up,
in fact, he doesn't even admit he was attacked and blames his bruises on an accident. When the
unit's training is complete, everyone is released on leave except for Desmond, who gets arrested for
insubordination. Dorothy is left waiting at the altar, but she's sure something must've happened
because Desmond would never do this to her. In his cell, Desmond ends up having a breakdown,
but he stays calm when Glover comes to see him. The captain wants him to plead guilty so that he
can be released without charge, but Desmond turns the offer down because he's firm in his beliefs.
Afterward, he gets a visit from Dorothy, who asks him to stop being prideful and pass the rifle
training which requires no killing. Desmond still doesn't change his mind, thus Dorothy calls Tom
and Bertha to share her worries. Later that night, Desmond has nightmares of the day he confronted
his father while he was beating up his mother and how horrible it felt to take away his gun.
The next day, Tom shows up at the fort wearing his old uniform and all his medals, demanding
to speak to his former commanding officer, who is now brigadier general. At his court-martial,
Desmond pleads not guilty, but when he's about to be sentenced, Tom forces his way inside the
court. He brings a letter from the brigadier general reminding everyone that the right to
be a Conscientious Objector is protected by the American constitution, so the case gets dismissed
to avoid trouble with congress and Desmond is allowed to begin training as a combat medic.
To celebrate, Desmond and Dorothy get married and have their first time together. In 1945, Desmond's
77th unit is sent to Okinawa and deployed to the Pacific Theater. As soon as they arrive they get
hit with the gritty reality of dozens of bodies being carried away in piles as if they were trash,
and they're here to replace them. The remaining members of the 96th unit join Glover's team and
Desmond gets to meet the only two other medics in the area. They also get to hear about Maeda
Escarpment, better known as the "Hacksaw Ridge"; Americans have tried climbing it six times but
the Japanese army has managed to throw them off without fail. The enemy deliberately targets
the wounded, so Desmond has to take off his red cross to avoid getting extra attention on him,
he's also given a new helmet. A few days later, the unit makes it to Hacksaw Ridge. Taking it is
incredibly important because it will give them Okinawa, and having Okinawa means having Japan.
The American navy unleashes an attack first to soften up the Japanese army, and once the
explosions and smoke have created enough chaos, Glover's unit climbs up the ridge to fight. The
battle is absolutely vicious, and it brings heavy losses on both sides. However Desmond never gets
scared and saves as many men as he can, including those that are usually left behind because they're
considered lost cases. There are a few times when he's almost caught by Japanese soldiers,
but Smitty makes sure to kill them all and keep Desmond safe. After long hours of fighting,
night falls and the American unit decides to dig in and camp to hold the spot they've taken,
intending to finish mopping out the ridge in the morning. Howell reminds everyone that it's
dangerous to go out there alone, so they should even piss in their holes, but Desmond still wants
to search for any survivors. Sergeant Howell allows it when Smitty volunteers to cover him.
Desmond does end up bringing back a couple of soldiers before getting in a hole with Smitty,
who treats him with much more respect now that he's seen him in action, and the two of them even
joke with each other. When Desmond falls asleep, he has a nightmare of the enemy reaching their
hole and killing them. After waking up on the verge of a breakdown, Desmond shares his dream
with Smitty, who is shocked to hear of a man that won't grab a weapon even in his dreams.
It seems this is the time for Desmond to explain where his aversion to holding firearms comes from:
one night, he finally got tired of his drunk father beating up his mother and confronted him.
Desmond took the gun from Tom's hands and aimed it at him, but this only causes Tom to fall to his
knees crying, and Desmond felt like he had killed his father in his heart. That day, he made his
promise to god that he would never touch a weapon again. In return, Smitty shares that he never met
his father and his mother abandoned him in an orphanage. The next morning, the Japanese army
launches a counterattack, taking the Americans by surprise when they barely got time to wake up.
Howell orders everyone to fall back and the navy comes in to help, but unfortunately,
Smitty dies before Desmond can take him to a safer spot. The American army has no choice but to climb
down the ridge, yet Desmond doesn't join them: he can hear the screams of men left behind and
has accepted that god's wish is for him to help them. Captain Glover takes the survivors away
and leaves only a couple of soldiers down there to keep watch. Desmond drags as many injured soldiers
out of the battlefield as possible, using some rope to lower them down the ridge. Barely a few
hours later, Glover calls the artillery off to spare more men's lives, and this leaves Howell,
Desmond, and all the other soldiers left up there visible and vulnerable to the Japanese.
This still isn't enough for Desmond to give up. Jeeps are being sent to pick up the soldiers he's
lowering and Desmond keeps going, even when the Japanese soldiers are coming closer. Some moments
later, Desmond finds a hurt soldier and buries him under the dirt before covering himself up with a
dead body to avoid being seen. The trick works and the Japanese walk by without seeing them, so
Desmond gets to save his fellow soldier after all. While Glover begs some reluctant higher-up for
reinforcements, Desmond returns to the battlefield after dropping his latest save down the ridge,
but this time, he's seen by the enemy. Running away takes him into a Japanese tunnel, where he
finds a man that ended things for the sake of his honor. The enemy tropes use this tunnel to cross
the area, and Desmond manages to avoid them until he finds a wounded Japanese soldier. Sticking to
the doctor's code, Desmond shares some morphine and a bandage with him despite being the enemy.
By the time he manages to leave the tunnel, night has fallen. Desmond doesn't allow the darkness to
stop him and keeps rescuing his fellow soldiers while praying to god and ignoring the bleeding
of his hands, to the point where he's lowering a few Japanese soldiers too. The following morning,
Glover is shocked to see tons of wounded soldiers were brought in the middle of the night and he
finally learns from one of the rescued men that the guy everyone considered a coward has been
doing this alone. Meanwhile, Desmond finally finds Howell together with another soldier,
so after rescuing the private, Desmond comes back for his sergeant. A Japanese sniper sees him and
shoots him, but luckily his helmet saves him from dying. Since Howell still has a few bullets left,
Desmond runs out on purpose to make the sniper shoot, which causes him to reveal his location
and get shot by the sergeant. Then, Desmond begins dragging him away as Howell shoots at the Japanese
soldiers that are now following them. Once Howell is lowered down the ridge, Desmond jumps as well,
and the Japanese soldiers that peek over the edge to finish him are shot by Glover and his men,
who have come over to help the last few survivors. Desmond is received with the utmost respect
and taken back to the infirmary tents, where he sadly learns that the other medic didn't make it.
Later, Glover comes to see Desmond and apologizes for having underestimated him,
admitting Desmond is the one to have done the most for the country. Glover also explains
they'll go back to the ridge tomorrow which is Saturday, he'd love to have Desmond with them but
he'll respect Desmond if he prefers to honor his Sabbath. Desmond accepts to go and the unit waits
for him to finish his prayers before unleashing the attack. The Americans take the Japanese by
surprise and thanks to the finally-approved reinforcements plus the tunnel Desmond had
discovered, they quickly turn the battle in their favor. A small group of Japanese soldiers comes
forward with the surrender flag, but they're only pretending in order to be closer and
throw a bunch of grenades at the Americans. These enemy soldiers are shot instantly,
but Desmond still gets hurt when he deflects a grenade to save his team. The other privates put
Desmond on a stretcher and hurry to take him away from the fight, only stopping to bring him back
his Bible when they realize he had accidentally dropped it. The Americans still win the battle
and take over Hacksaw Ridge after the leader of the Japanese unit ends things through the ritual
of seppuku to make up for his mistakes. The real Desmond Doss carried 75 wounded men to safety on
Hacksaw Ridge. He was the first Conscientious Objector to receive the Medal of Honor,
America's highest award for courage under fire. Desmond and Dorothy were married until her death
in 1991, and Desmond never stopped being modest about his heroics because he gave all credit to
his god and thought that the real heroes were buried. He passed away at the age of 87 in 2006.