Focus on a CO as a hero of a war movie is an unusual twist

Say what you will about Mel Gibson and his fascination with violence and machismo, but I have to admit that he can direct an incredibly powerful, harrowing battle scene - as we see in Hacksaw Ridge and its depiction of the three-day assault in 1945 on Okinawa. It's almost too much to watch (and listen to), and I probably wouldn't have done so - except that it's an unusual (and based on fact) story of heroism, and to understand it fully you have to see the horror and danger of battle, especially an assault from lower ground. The story is unusual in that the central character, Doss, is a medic and conscientious objector who refuses even to carry a weapon. Of course the movie is too long, that seems inevitable today for almost any film of ambition, and Gibson's footing is much less sure in the early scenes that give us Doss's family background (alcoholic father who lost many friends in the first World War and doesn't want his sons to enlist for the 2nd), clumsy romance with a young nurse, etc. The movie picks up when Doss enters basic and is hounded, humiliated, and beaten for his refusal to fight; the movie needs to lay this groundwork, as the whole point of the movie is to show us how Doss earned the trust and respect of his fellow-soldiers (in fact he was the first and maybe the only CO to win a Medal of Honor). I did wonder if the basic-training scenes were exaggerated; it would seem he could not have been the first medic-CO to appear in the entire division, although maybe they all endured such torment. The movie fully comes into its own in the battle scenes; thought they're assaultive on our nerves and ear drums, they to tell a powerful story and (spoiler coming) and have to give Gibson credit - I was sure throughout that at some point Doss would have the "prove himself" through use of a weapon, but, no, he and Gibson say true to the facts and to his faith, so kudos there. It's not an innovative and groundbreaking movies - hard to see what ground is left to break re WWII films - but the focus on a CO is an unusual twist that kept our interest alive for 2+ hours.