I emboy, no doubt by now you have received full and from me and
missus jency. Untimely death of your son no words of mine. How do
we leave the drought that you have felt his loss tremendously. He was a
fine soldier and he believed very strongly. But it's no secret anymore that we
were involved in one of the most important operations of this wold hell us,
the one have held us all together. It was always the first fillet here
came to a clearing era of row where over four thousand two your husband served
with a combat whose dangerous duty is to place itself, which we all chatish
load. So the loss of mean and others like him distinct plow. I
really understand your desire to learn as much as possible for God in the cretin
spot, Colonel, I've got something you should go about. Yes, these
two men that I do one of the this one of Omaha Beach Sean Ryan.
This man at Utah, Peter Ryan. This man was killed last week
in New Guinea, Daniel right, the three men of brothers, Sir,
I've just learned that this afternoon their mother is going to be getting all three
telegrams that's not all. There's a fourth brother, the youngest. He parachuted
in with one hundred and first Airborne night before the invasion. He's somewhere in
Normandy. We don't know where. Is he alive? We don't know.
Come with me, I don't know, I don't damn it. All four
of them were in the same company in the twenty ninth division, but we
split them up after the Sullivan brothers died. On the journal contact with the
fourth son, James I, he was dropped about fifteen miles in England,
near Newville. But that's still deep behind journal and act. There is no
way you can know where in the hell he was dropped. General First reports
how to ice peak. What shapes at one hundred and first is scattered all
to hell and gone. There's miss drops all over Normandy. Now, assuming
Private Ryan even survived the jump, he could be anywhere. In fact,
he's probably Kia and frankly, Sir we go sending some sort of rescue mission
flat heading throughout swarms of German reinforcements all along our access of advance that they're
going to be KIA two. That heart wrenching tragic scene you just heard was
and is a reality of war. Mothers and fathers lose sons. Sons and
daughters lose fathers in families lose loved ones, all to defend our freedoms that
we should hold in the highest regard. This week's film encapsulates that tragedy in
what seven men endured to save just one so a family would have one remaining
son. Released in nineteen ninety eight, directed by film maestro Steven Spielberg,
Saving Private Ryan tells the tale of Captain John Miller played by Tom Hanks,
a man tasked with leading the aforementioned six men on a mission during World War
Two to retrieve Private James Ryan played by Matt Damon from behind enemy lines so
he may be returned home following the death of his three brothers in the same
war. Our next two clips show what Captain Miller is up against. After
getting their orders, Miller's group is against the mission. They do not understand
what is so important about risking their lives for one soldier. That is when
Captain Miller explains how gripes work in the military, and then Captain Miller explains
why this mission is important. It is because of the detachment he feels from
the person he was at home, and in order to get rid of that
detachment, he asked to return home to his family. Do you want to
explain the math with this to me? I mean, where's the sense of
risking the lives of the aid of us to save one guy twenty degrees?
Anybody want to answer that? Right? It? Think about the poor pastor's
mother? Hey, doc, I got a mother, all right? I
mean you got a mother's sorry, just got a mother. I bet even
the captain's got a mother. Well maybe not the captain, but the rest
of us got mothers. There's not the reason why there's but to do and
die, because that's supposed to in corporal Huh, what'll i'll supposed to die?
Is at it? Uncle's talking about our duty as soldiers. Yes,
sure, we don't have orders and we have to fall on That supersedes everything,
including your mother's, Yes, sir, Thanks sir. Even if you
think the missions food buster, especially if you think of missions food ball,
what's the hooper? Oh? What's German? Yeah? Never heard of that,
sir. I have an opinion on this matter by all means shared with
a squad over my way. Thank you, sir. This entire mission is
a serious misallocation of valuable military resources. I go on, Well, it
seems to me, sir, the guy gave me a special gift, made
me a fine instrumental warfare driving. Pay attention. Now, this is the
way to gripe continue Jackson. Well what I mean by that, sirs?
He used to put me in the serious sniper rifle anywhere up to and including
one mile Adolf Hitler with a clear line of sight, Sir, back you
backs fellas War's over. Amen. Oh that's a brilliant bumpkin. It's the
captain. What about you? I mean, you don't grape at all.
I don't grap to you, riving. I'm a captain. Here's a chat
of command. The grapes go up, not down, always up. You
grab to me, I grabed him, my security or officer, so on,
so on, so on. I don't gripe to you. I don't
grape in front of you. You should know that as a ranger. I'm
sorry, sir. But let's say you are on a captain, or maybe
I was a major. What would you say that? Well, in that
case, I say, this is an excellent mission, sir, with an
extremely valuable objective sir, worthy of my best efforts. Sir. Moreover,
I feel heartfelt sorrow for the mother of Private James Ryan. I'm willing to
lay down my life. The wives of my men, especially you arriving to
these are suffering. He's good. I love them. And now Captain Miller
gets personal to pull on me up to right now? What's it up to?
But what is it? Three hundred dollars? I'm a school teacher.
I teach English composition this little town called Adlete, Pennsylvania. Last eleven years
I've been at Thomas Alva Edison High School, a coach of the baseball team
in the springtime. Back home and I tell people what I do for a
living, and they think, well, now that figures. But over here
it's a big, big mystery. So I guess I've changed. So sometimes
I wonder if I've changed so much my wife is even going to recognize me
whenever it is I get back to her, and how I'll ever be able
to to tell her about day's light today? Uh? Ryan, I don't
know anything about Ryan. I don't care. Man means nothing to me.
It's just a name. But if you know, if going to Rommel and
finding him so he can go home. If that earns me the right to
get back to my wife, will then then that's my mission. You want
to leave, I'm gonna go off and fight the war, all right,
all right, I want to stop you. I'll even put in the paperwork,
and just now that every man I kill the farther away from home.
I feel there are very many aspects that make soldiers that have served or currently
serving the epitome of heroes, and those that have made the ultimate sacrifice they
supersede hero status. One of those aspects is a sense of duty. We
have heard this throughout our clips thus far. In our next one it is
even more evident. Upon locating Private Ryan Miller tries to get him to abandon
his post despite learning his brothers are dead. Despite the low success rate of
maintaining the post, he refuses to leave because his orders tell him he must
stay. This scene concludes with a powerful speech by Commander Mike Corvath that sets
the stage for the climactic final battle in this film. Your brothers were killed
in combat, which one all yeah, huh on the level, Yeah,
I'm afraid, so am. I want to take some time with us.
There's some place you want to go and h what's this all about? Ryan
lost his brothers? Which one all of them? M hm. You came
on the way out here to tell me that you're you're going home. Our
artists are to bring you back, bring me back, corpril hand and I
don't mean even more shorthanded, but orders are orders, any communication, and
that when you're going to be believed up here. Sure there's no way to
tell. I mean, we have no idea what's happened in southtime. I
have my orders too, sir. They don't include me abandoning my post.
I understand that. But this changes things. I don't see that it does,
sir. The chief of staff for the United States Army, He says
it does, sir. Our orders are to hold this bridge at all costs
our planes in the eighty second of taking out every bridge across the murder out
with the exception of two one of balloon and this one here we let the
Germans take it where it is our foothold now to displace private your OUTFID wants
to stay. That's one thing. Your party's over here. Sure, I
can't leave until at least reinforcements here. You've got three minutes to gather your
gear, sir, What about them? I mean, there's barely hardly two
of our guys already died trying to find you, all right, sir,
M that's right. What were their names? Arwen Wade and Andrean Camposo?
Wade and Camposo doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sensor. Why?
Why mean? Why do I deserve to go? Why not any of
these guys? They all fought just as hard as me. Is that what
they're supposed to tell your mother when they send her another folded American flying Tell
her that when you around me, I was here, and I was with
the only brothers that I have left, and there's no way I was going
to desert them. I think she'll understand that there's no way I'm leaving this
bridge. And now the commander's speech on why they must save Private Ryan and
stay on the bridge? What he orders? How can we hear a cross
in a strange boundary? Here? The world has taken a turn for the
serial, clearly, but the question still stands. I don't know, what
do you think? You don't want to know what I think? No,
mink I do well? Part of me? Thanks the kid's right, what's
he done? Do deserve this? He wants to stay here? Fine,
let's leave them and go home. Yeah, but another part of me thanks,
What if, by some miracle we stay and actually make it out of
here. Someday we might look back on this and decide that saving Private Ryan
was the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this hole,
god awful mess. That's what I was thinking, sir. Like you said,
Kevin, we do that. We all learned the right to go home.
This film has been heralded since its release. Veterans of World War Two
have said it's the most realistic depiction of the battles that were fought. This
includes the twenty five minute opening battle scene on the beaches of Normandy. Spielberg,
in making this film, sought consultation from known World War Two writer Steven
Ambrose, whose work was eventually adapted into the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers.
Its reception was also of note. It was the second highest grossing film of
nineteen ninety eight, earning four hundred and eighty one point eight million dollars.
It was the highest grossing video rental of all time. It garnered five Academy
Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Hanks, and Best Director
for Spielberg. It won three, including Best Director. The fact that it
did not win Best Picture, Shakespeare in Love took home the award that year,
is considered one of the greatest upsets in the history of the Academy Awards.
This is not just a simple war movie, or even a great war
movie. It is one of the greatest films ever made of any genre bar
none. It's realism, performances in everlasting legacy make it a film that truly
shows us what Memorial Day is for remembering those that made the greatest sacrifice for
every citizen of this great country. This film is the epitome of showing us
that it must be seen by everyone at any time. I hope you join
me next week when we will look at the classic James Dean performance Rebel without
a Cause to close and honor those this weekend that made that ultimate sacrifice so
we all may sleep comfortably in freedom and have the rights we cherish. I
feel it appropriate to share the words that truly speak on the sacrifice these brave
men and women made and continue to make, spoken by then President Ronald Reagan
in nineteen eighty five for WMNH and Matt Connerton Unleashed. This has been a
classic film review with Eric Pilcher. Sometime back I received, in the name
of our country, the bodies of four marines who had died while an active
duty. I said then that there is a special sadness that accompanies the death
of servicemen, for we're never quite good enough to them. Not really,
we can't be, because what they gave us is beyond our powers to repay.
So when a service man dies, it's a tear in the fabric,
a break in the hold. All we can do is remember. It is,
in a way an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of
our country, in defense of us in wars far away. The imagination plays
a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise.
We see them as something like the founding Father's grave and gray haired. But
most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lines
that when they were living and the one they would have lived when they died.
They gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They
gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for
our country, For us. We owe them a debt we can never repay.
All we can do is remember them and what they did, and why
they had to be brave for us