Just Watched Hacksaw Ridge.

[Burning Petard]

I was favorably impressed. It earns the 'R' rating for violence and gore. Some expert will have to tell me how authentic the big scene is with US Army Infantry units invading Okinawa. Did 'ground pounders' back then have boots with ankle supports and two straps that buckled? Would a rifle company have such a mix of personal weapons? I saw Tommy guns, Grease guns (M3 .45 auto submachine guns) Carbines, .45 pistols, M1 rifles(Garand) BAR, flame throwers, as well as crew served .30 cal air cooled belt fed machine guns and mortars. I note that I think we never used flamethrowers again, although we have used Napalm bombs.

Again, favorably impressed. It was not 'good entertainment.' Ended with actual news shots of the awarding of the Medal of Honor by Truman. The real person looked more like another character in the movie called "Hollywood."

During the Viet Nam era, the Seventh Day Adventist church operated training camps for their young men to prepare them for the ordeals of basic training as conscientious objectors willing to serve as medics.

snailgate

[Big RR]

Don't know about all the weaponry, but I do recall hearing that the military used such "jungle boots" during WW2 with buckled canvas uppers and leather lowers that could get wet and dry out quickly--especially for amphibious landings.

[Long Run]

Jeff Shaara's historical novel of the battle for Okinawa, "The Final Storm", was a very good recounting of this final island battle before the taking of Japan.