Home ‘He was just my dad’: Sons of World War II soldiers speak on the heroes within their fathers
News

‘He was just my dad’: Sons of World War II soldiers speak on the heroes within their fathers

Rebecca Barnabi
veteran uniform
(© Bumble Dee – stock.adobe.com)

A 2016 film “Hacksaw Ridge” tells the true story of Army Medic Corporal Desmond Doss who fought in World War II’s bloodiest battle and saved 75 men in one night.

Doss, 26, and his battalion were fighting near Urasoe Mura, Okinawa, one of the last and largest in the Pacific during WWII in April 1945. They had to climb a 400-foot jagged cliff, which they nicknamed Hacksaw Ridge, and reach a plateau. Japanese soldiers waited in caves and holes at the top of the cliff.

Tonight in room 104 of Blue Ridge Community College’s Plecker Center, the sons of Doss and Jim Belcher, a U.S. Navy soldier who survived the USS Indianapolis sinking, will discuss their journeys to find their fathers who were known to others and admired as heroes of World War II.

Admission is free to join Desmond Doss Jr. and Jim Belcher Jr. in “He was Just My Dad: Our Journey to Find our Fathers” from 7 to 9 p.m.

Corporal Doss, born in Lynchburg, served in the U.S. Army, and earned the Medal of Honor and Purple Heart. RMC James Belcher also received the Purple Heart.

Support AFP




Latest News

Tom Dulaney Slonaker
Etc.

Greene County: Tom Dulaney Slonaker has had several SuperFun careers

healthcare
U.S. & World

Making the case for universal health care: The message is the message

Republicans use framing to deride universal health care when they use the terms “free health care” and “socialized medicine.” UHC is neither free nor socialized medicine, but the terms stick.

flock License plate reader police
U.S. & World

While the political circus distracts us, Flock builds the Digital Police State

While Americans remain transfixed by the political circus — cheering for their preferred party, jeering at the opposition, obsessing over every manufactured outrage and waiting for the next spectacle — the Surveillance State continues its steady march forward.

vdot road
Local

Local road construction, maintenance schedule update: July 20-24

waynesboro map
Local

Waynesboro: Is the city review of the Mimosa Farm permit request just a formality?

vape shop
Virginia

New state law aims to crack down on liquid tobacco, vape sales in Virginia

cinderella project
Local

Harrisonburg: Cinderella Project hosting back to school fashion show