Private First Class medic Desmond Doss in WWII on Hacksaw Ridge was the hero in the Battle of Okinawa. Germany was near defeat. The island of Okinawa was the last Japanese-occupied territory in the Pacific theater before America attacked Japan. The Japanese were tenacious and brutal and refused to surrender. They had dug deep underground tunnels, an “underground battleship” on Hacksaw Ridge, so that the bombing from the sea was ineffective. The battle was called Hell on Hacksaw Ridge because twelve thousand American soldiers died in this battle, and one hundred thousand Japanese died. Mel Gibson’s movie comes close to the blood, gore, and horrors of this battle. Hacksaw Ridge was pivotal to the Battle of Okinawa. Medic Doss was wounded four times. He was the only conscientious objector to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. Doss tied a bow knot in a rope and lowered the wounded soldier off a 50-foot cliff. Doss’s hands became bloody from letting down his shot-up comrades. After each wounded soldier was lowered to safety, Doss would pray, “Please Lord, let me get one more.” Over a brutal twelve-hour period, Doss prayed that prayer 75 times and rescued 75 wounded soldiers.
The thought struck me, this is the prayer we believers should be praying. “Please Lord, let me get one more unsaved friend, loved one, or co-worker.” Let me rescue them not just from a hellish battle but from Hell itself, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus described this agony seven times in Matthew 8:12; 13:42; 13:50; 22:13; 24:51; 25: 30, and Luke 13:28. For whose salvation are you praying, “Please, Lord, let me get one more?”