Prosecutor: There is only one question that any military court need ask of the accused: do you deny disobeying Col. Sangston's direct orders?
Judge: Well, do you, Private?
Desmond Doss: No, sir, I don't.
Judge: Why are you contesting it, then? Why is it so important to you, given your refusal to even touch a weapon to serve in a combat unit?
Desmond Doss: Because when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, I took it personal. Everyone I knew was on fire to join up, including me. There were two men in my hometown declared 4-F unfit, they killed themselves cause they couldn't serve. Why, I had a job in a defense plant and I could've taken a deferment, but that ain't right. It isn't right that other men should fight and die, that I would just be sitting at home safe. I need to serve. I got the energy and the passion to serve as a medic, right in the middle with the other guys. No less danger, just... while everybody else is taking life, I'm going to be saving it.
Captain Glover: All I saw was a skinny kid. I didn't know who you were. You've done more than any other man could've done in the service of his country. Now, I've never been more wrong about someone in my life, and I hope one day you can forgive me.
Company B Soldier: In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons.
Sgt Howell: Have you ever roped a goat, Hollywood?
Hollywood Zane: No, Sarge.
Sgt Howell: Have you ever looked into a goat's eyes?
Hollywood Zane: No, Sarge.
Sgt Howell: Good. That would be unnatural.
Sgt Howell: I have seen stalks of corn with better physiques. Makes me want to pull an ear off, Private! Can you carry your weight?
Desmond Doss: Yes, Sergeant!
Sgt Howell: It should be easy for you then. Corporal!
Corporal Jessop: Sergeant.
Sgt Howell: Make sure you keep this man away from strong winds.
Captain Glover: Most of these men don't believe the same way you do, but they believe so much in how much you believe.
Desmond Doss: I don't know how I'm going to live with myself if I don't stay true to what I believe.
Desmond Doss: With the world so set on tearing itself apart, it don't seem like such a bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of it back together.
Chosen answer: US troops put the net up (in reality the ridge isn't as tall). The Japanese were fighting a defensive battle from heavily fortified positions on a reverse slope, and it suited them to have the Americans attacking from that point. The Americans also used ladders on other parts of the escarpment.