Saving PVT Ryan

["Cooper, Maj Philip S. CCJ1" <cooperps@centcom.mil>]

		> > An interesting point of view.  Every American should
read this:
		> >  
		> > By now, most of you have seen "Saving Private Ryan." But
I don't > > suspect you have seen this column from the MidWest.
		> > 
		> > This was Dick Feagler's column in Plain Dealer.
		> > 
		> > In a battlefield cemetery each marble cross marks an
individual > > crucifixion.  Someone-someone very young usually-has died for
> > somebody else's sins.  The movie "Saving Private Ryan" begins and ends
		> > in the > > military cemetery above Omaha Beach. By
sundown of D-Day, 40,000 > > Americans had landed on that beach, and one in
19 had become a > > casualty. The military brass purposely chose troops with
no combat > > experience for > > the bulk of the assault force.
		> > 
		> > The brass reasoned that an experienced infantryman is a
terrified > > infantryman. The odds of dying in the early waves were so
great that > > an informed soldier might be paralyzed with well-founded
despair. But
		> > the young and idealistic might move forward into the
lottery of death.
		> > 
		> > Director Steven Spielberg made "Saving Private Ryan" as
a tribute to > > D-day veterans. He wanted, reviewers say, to strip the
glory away from > > war and show the '90s  generation what it was really
like.  
		> > The reviews have praised the first 30 minutes of the
film and the > > special effects that graphically show the blood and horror
of the > > D-Day landing.
		> > 
		> > Unfortunately, American movie audiences have become
jaded > > connoisseurs of special effects gore. In the hands of the > >
entertainment industry, > > violence has become just another pandering
trick.  But Spielberg
		> > wasn't pandering.  > > Shocked by and wary of his
depiction, I bought a copy of Steven > > Ambrose's book "D-Day." The story
of the Normandy invasion is a story > > of unimaginable slaughter. Worse
than I ever knew, and I thought I > > knew > > something about it.  The
young men who lived through those first > > waves are old men now.  Many
have asked themselves, every day for more > > than > > 50 years, why they
survived.  It is an unanswerable question. The air > > was full of buzzing
death. When the ramps opened on many of the
		> > landing > > craft, all the men aboard were riddled with
machine gun bullets before > > they could step into the water.  Beyond this
cauldron of cordite and > > carnage, half a world away, lay an America
united in purpose like no > > citizen > > under 60 has ever seen.
		> > 
		> > The war touched everyone. The entire starting lineup of
the 1941 > > Yankees was in military uniform. Almost every family could hang
a > > service flag in the window, with a star embroidered on it for each > >
relative in
		> > uniform. In the early hours of D-Day, with the outcome
of the battle > > still in the balance, the nation prayed. Ambrose tells us
that the > > New York > > Daily News threw out its lead stories and printed
in their place the
		> > Lord's > > Prayer.
		> > 
		> > "I fought that war as a child" a historian on television
said the > > other night. I knew what he meant. So did I. We all saved fat
and > > flattened cans and grew victory gardens. But we did not all go to >
> Omaha Beach.
*	> Or Saipan.  > > Or Anzio.  
*	> > 
		> > Only an anointed few did that.
		> > 
		> > The men of World War II are beginning to leave us now.
In my family, > > six have gone and two are left. We have lost the uncle who
was on > > Okinawa, the cousin who worked his way up the gauntlet of Italy
and
		> > the cousin > > who brought the German helmet back from
North Africa.  These men left > > us > > with a simple request. You can hear
that request in "Saving Private > > Ryan."
		> > 
		> > I haven't read a review that has mentioned it, but it is
what makes > > Spielberg's movie a masterpiece.
		> > 
		> > In the film, a squad of rangers is sent behind enemy
lines to save a > > man whose three brothers have been killed in battle.
Higher > > headquarters > > wants him shipped home to spare his mother the
agony of having all her > > sons killed in combat.  So eight rangers risk
their lives for one man.  > > And when one of the rangers is mortally
wounded, he asks Pvt. Ryan to > > bend > > over so he can whisper to him.
"Earn this," he says.  And that is the > > request of all the young men who
have died in all the wars-from > > Normandy to > > the Chosin Reservoir to
Da Nang to the Persian Gulf.  Earn this. When > > the movie ended, the
theater was silent except for some muffled sobs.  > > But the > > tears that
scalded my eyes were not just for the men who had died on
		> > the > > screen and in truth. Or for the men who had
lived and grown old and > > were > > baffled about why they had been spared.
		> > 
		> > I walked out into the world of Howard Stern and Jerry
Springer and > > "South Park." Into the world of front-page coverage of
Monica S. > > Lewinski and the stain on her dress that might have been Oval
Office
		> > semen.
		> > 
		> > "Earn this," was still ringing in my ears. And the tears
in my eyes
		> > were tears of betrayal.