What is courage? Courage is the ability to face the frightening times in life. As Vincent Van Gogh once said, “what would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”. People stand at the face of death and laugh because they are courageous. Desmond Doss, a corporal in the United States Army in World War Two, showed courage. He faced the fiercest Japanese soldiers without a weapon to protect himself. Doss was a Seventh-day Adventist, and he didn’t believe that killing or even hurting another human being was right. He was only a man, but he accomplished so much when he was in the military. Desmond Doss was 23 years old when he joined the armed forces. In basic training, Doss was ridiculed for his beliefs. He was beaten, and was almost discharged due to mental instability. Desmond refused because he still wanted to serve his county. “I need to serve,” Doss said, “I have the energy to be a medic”. He wanted to be a medic in the Army; however, he didn’t want to harm people, Doss wanted to be saving lives in the midst of chaos. Due to Desmond Doss’ beliefs, he was ordered by a superior to pick up a rifle, but he froze up and refused to. The superior officer threatened to court-martial him. Being lucky, he wasn’t court-martialed. Desmond eventually completed his training. He was stationed in Guam and the Philippines.…show more content… Thousands of American troops died on Okinawa where Doss was. He saw the survivors, the injured, the horribly maimed, and even the dead being hauled out on trucks. Doss and the rest of his division had to climb up a cliff to attack the Japanese. Up the mighty cliff was nicknamed “Hacksaw Ridge”. Desmond Doss and his division climbed which seemed like forever. They all got to the top of the hill, but no one in sight. Out of nowhere, Japanese soldiers ambushed the unsuspecting Americans. Doss was running without fear towards his wounded allies. He ran with courage and bravery not seen anywhere
