Smitty Ryker (January 6, 1917-May 5, 1945) was US Army Corporal who served in the US 77th Infantry Division along with a Medal of Honor recipient and medic, Corporal Desmond T. Doss to Guam till he was killed in action during the Battle of Okinawa during World War ll.
Biography[]
Smitty Ryker was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 6, 1917. He had a troubling childhood since he never really got to know his family. His father left him and his mother when he was born. Smitty’s mother raised him by herself until he was five years old before handing him over to an orphanage. Though he was young, it completely changed him as a person. He learned to judge and hate others quick. He found it hard to trust new people. The orphanage turned him into a cold individual.
Meeting the Pacifist[]
As he grew older, these traits stuck with him. He enlisted for the United States Army in 1942, figuring he didn’t have much to lose. After signing up he was placed in the 77th infantry division and was sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for boot camp. There he met men that he could effortlessly joke around with - they were the family he never had. He would never admit that though. Smitty preferred to talk big and keep in the sappy talk. Sometimes at camp, he would find it fun to test the new recruits and poke fun at them. No one dared to mess with Smitty, except for his close band of friends who knew his limits.
This is when he met a Catholic named Clearance Glenn, Randell Fuller and a Seventh-day Adventist from Virginia named Desmond Doss and the four were under the command of Sergeant Vincent Howell. During the first days of boot camp, everything when went really as Doss excels physically but becomes a pariah among his fellow soldiers for refusing to handle a rifle and train on Saturdays. Howell and Captain Jack Glover attempt to discharge Doss for psychiatric reasons under Section 8 but are overruled, as Doss's religious beliefs do not constitute mental illness.
They subsequently torment Doss by putting him through grueling labor, intending to get Doss to leave of his own accord. Despite being beaten one night by his fellow soldiers but was stop by Smitty when he them to knock it off. Doss mercifully refuses to identify his attackers and continues training the following morning.
Fight like Hell[]
As the 77th were fighting their first engagement against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Battle of Guam, Ryder was awarded the Silver Star for single handedly destroying a Japanese pillbox by himself without a single scratch. Two months later he was promoted to the rank of Corporal before the 77th division participated in the Battle of Leyte in October 1944. During the battle Doss saved him from stepping on a landmine, this was a turning point for Ryder of how he thought Doss two years earlier.
Hacksaw[]
Smitty Ryker saving Desmond Doss form a Imperial Japanese soldier.
On April 29, 1945, the 307th Infantry Regiment of the 77th Infantry Division moved into the line on Okinawa, During the Battle, the unit is informed that it will relieve the US 96th Infantry Division, which was tasked with ascending and securing the Escarpment called the Maeda Escarpment aka "Hacksaw Ridge". The Imperial Japanese troops had spent years entrenching their soldiers, creating a maze of tunnels in the hill. After A Company’s near annihilation in taking the escarpment, the remainder of A Company, plus B Company, of which Doss along with Ryker, Fuller, and the rest of the unit was a part of climbing cargo nets to the top on May 2, 1945. The escarpment where the men were fighting was a cliff roughly 400 feet high. The top 35 feet created an overhang, where the cargo nets had been necessary for the men to reach the top. During the fight, both sides were suffered heavy losses on the needle rock, Desmond saved Smitty the second time before turning back the favor and finally earning his respect. As the fighting continues, Ryder and Pfc. Andy Walker were ordered take a Japanese bunker, however Walker knock out unconscious so he has to do it by himself and successfully destroy it. As the Americans camp for the night, Ryker and Doss shared a fox hole talking about more of their past lives before the war. Smitty apologizes for doubting his courage all those years ago, and both reconcile.
Ryker prepares to throw an M37 Satchel Charge.
End[]
Three days later, the fighting intensified to the point that all men were ordered to retreat after a group of soldiers blew up a cave filled with ammo, thus the Japanese launched a massive counterattack and drove the Americans off the escarpment. Smitty did all he could to friends some time to get of the ridge before getting shot multiple by a Type 99 machine gun. As Smitty was dying from his wounds he told Desmond that he was scared but Doss wasn't giving up easily as he carried him on his back, be it was too late as Smitty had died from his wounds. This caused Doss to have another break down and ask God what does he want him to do before he hears the cries of dying soldiers and returns to save them, carrying the wounded to the cliff's edge and belaying them down by rope one at a time, each time praying to save one more. The following morning Doss finds Howell and Milton Zane, a fellow soldier Doss knows from boot camp, hiding in a trench. He carries Hollywood, who is the most injured, to the edge, while promising to come back for Howell. Back at camp, a despondent Grover, who was told there were no men to spare, is alerted to the arrival of his men. Rushing to the med station, he was stunned to see the men he thought were dead recovering in the hospital. He is further shocked to learn from Zane that Doss is the one who has been retrieving the wounded. Meanwhile, Doss returns to Howell, and both escape Hacksaw under enemy fire, Doss using a makeshift stretcher for Howell while Howell provides cover, with Doss being the last to catapult down with Smitty's body.