Chattanooga Race Honors Desmond Doss

October 19, 2016:    The Seventh-day Adventist World War II hero Desmond T. Doss was honored posthumously in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with a local race named after him.

Doss, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions during the war, is buried in the National Cemetery in Chattanooga.

One of the five races at the annual Seven Bridges Marathon was renamed “The Desmond Doss Four Bridges Half Marathon.”

Doss is the subject of a new cinematic release, “Hacksaw Ridge,” directed by famed Hollywood actor and director Mel Gibson.

“Hacksaw Ridge,” which opens on November 4, tells the story of the Adventist conscientious objector’s heroic feat of saving 75 fellow soldiers during the World War II Battle of Okinawa without firing or carrying a gun.

The Georgia-Cumberland Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and Lionsgate Films, the studio behind the release, both sponsored the half-marathon. This year the race was held on Sunday, October 16.