HACKSAW RIDGE Producer Making a Film on Dr. Mary Edwards Walker The Only Woman Who Received The Medal of Honor

The producer behind Mel Gibson’s incredible WWII film Hacksaw Ridge, David Permut, is now developing a film based on Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, who is the only woman ever to have received the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The project follows Walker’s journey during the Civil War “as she struggled to be accepted and compensated in the same manner as her male counterparts in the medical field and ultimately became the first and only female recipient to receive the Congressional Medal Of Honor. Even after receiving her medical degree at Syracuse Medical College in NY, Dr. Walker was considered unfit for the Union Army Examining Board and initially was only allowed to serve voluntarily as a surgeon. While serving in the war, Dr. Walker was captured by Confederate soldiers after boldly crossing enemy lines to treat wounded civilians and was arrested as a spy – eventually being released in a prisoner exchange.”

This story is sure to make for a great movie. As a big history buff, I enjoy watching these kinds of films that tell the stories of real life badass heroes! The movie is set up to be developed at Walden Media and I’m sure that they’ll do Walker’s story justice. Permut had this to say in a statement:

“Dr. Walker’s arduous journey to be recognized as an equal in her field of medicine, let alone be allowed to practice, and her pioneering fight for equality is historic, cinematic and certainly prescient. I’m extremely proud in bringing a forgotten hero’s inspirational story to the screen with Walden, Rosey, and Jimmy.”

The script for the film is being written by Rosalind Ross and it will be adapted from the book, A Woman of Honor: Dr. Mary E. Walker and the Civil War , which was written by Mercedes Graf.

Source: Deadline