SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

[KoG Jehuty]

The thing is it was an order given out by command. No matter how stupid the command is, if my superiors told me to save 1 man even though we might lose our entire platoon, as long as it was for the good of the country I would obey.

 

[KoG Turok]

screw that! itd be the protection of my men first!!! the odds this guy was even alive after the d- day drop was like a needle in a hay stack this was not worth the sacrifice if looking for private ryan was the case we as americans would all be speaking germany our objective was to save europe and frances butt from germany invasion you obviously dont realize the importants of WW2

 

[MikesLegend]

XGC Cutthroat thinks that that would have a misallocation of resources, and normally you would be right-except that the whole point of the movie is having the courage to do what is asked of you for your country when it is asked of you and that by rescuing private James Ryan they set the example that no matter how chaotic it was one man still made a difference. I feel that by doing what they did they proved that they were the better men. It's easy to walk away from a burning building but it's the people that run in are who are remembered.

 

[XGC GunNut]

while i agree that it was ridiculous it was to save that families legacy, she had 4 or 5 (can't remember) boys and all but one had died, that has to be devastating, and while i understand that it is a huge sacrifice i believe that after giving 3 or 4 (again can't really remember) of her boys she deserves to at least have one saved. I believe that it was the right thing to do and something that i think we as a country and human race are rapidly losing...

 

[KoG Turok]

think outside the movie for once. i know its an off the subject exercise but if this was current time iraq and a soldier was displaced from his platoon would you make it an objective to find him to lower his moral by telling him sorry dude your bros are dead that kinda trama would make me go berserk id rather leave him there fighting and tell pull him to the side when the gun fire ceased

 

[KoG Turok]

after further research in that time period or anytime period for that matter the military would never make a platoon search a war zone for one man to give him this news it does make any sense, but it was a box office hit that was the main objective

 

[JimmyKuddo]

Never the less, I find it reasonable to use a squad or so of soldiers to find a man and inform him of his family's loss, and bring him home.

The squad is still fighting through the war, providing assistance to others, and when they inform the private and return home, they may have been able to help the Army in ways other than direct combat.

Not to mention they could be put back on the battlefield with new recruits.

If they were short on manpower and losing considerable ground it may be a misallocation of resources. You must also consider the skill, training, etc. of the squad. You wouldn't use navy seals to conduct patrols in Afghanistan. These were basic soldiers. Some with specialized training but nothing rare or sorely needed else where.

In the movie, the squad fought every battle to do the right thing for all allied soldiers and most were unfortunate in the end. The mission succeeded but cost most of the squads lives.

I could elaborate more on a few things. Maybe another post.

Oh and nice necro.

 

[KoG Jehuty]

after further research in that time period or anytime period for that matter the military would never make a platoon search a war zone for one man to give him this news it does make any sense, but it was a box office hit that was the main objective

I agree, it was intended to be a box office seller. Regardless of my standing point, I don't feel that the generals would actually allow this action to take place unless he had extremely valuable Intel that they needed. If anything they would get to him when they can, but they would never jeopardize their forces for one man who has nothing of value for the war besides his will to fight. My cousins grandfather was a PoW in WWII and they did not get to him until the war was nearly over.

 

[KoG Turok]

It's based on the story of the Niland Brothers during WWII.
Private Ryan in Saving Private Ryan never existed as he was portrayed in the movie. His story, however, was based on an actual event that happened to a member of Easy Company from the 506th regiment of the 101st Airborne. (This is the same company featured in the book and mini series Band of Brothers)
According to Stephen Ambrose, author of Band of Brothers, a few weeks after D-Day, Easy Company went into defensive positions south of the French city of Carentan. One day, one of the company's members, a man named Fritz Niland, came down the line to say goodbye to his buddies because he was flying home.
The story he related to his friends was tragic. Niland had had a brother named Bob in the 82nd Airborne, a division that also parachuted into Normandy with the 101st. Upon arrival at the 82nd, Niland learned that Bob had been killed on D-Day while manning a machine gun.
So Fritz Niland went to the 4th Infantry Division to see his other brother and tell him of Bob's death. Upon arrival there, he discovered that that brother too had been killed on D-Day after landing on Utah Beach.
By the time he got back to Easy Company, a priest was looking for him to tell him that his third brother, a pilot in the Chinese-Burma-India theatre, had been shot down in that same week.
Fritz's mother had received all three telegrams on the same day.
Thus, the Army decided, under their 'Sole Survivor' policy to remove him from the combat zone as soon as possible. There was no search and rescue mission to find Private Niland as portrayed in the movie.
There is some disagreement about how the story actually played out. Members of Easy Company seem to remember it as Ambrose relates it and how I explained it above, but the priest who told Niland of his third brother's death relates the story in his own memoir and says that it was he who told Niland of all three of his brother's deaths, and that Niland's mother was not a widow and did not receive all telegrams on the same day.
Nevertheless, Hanks and Spielberg were fans of the memoir and liked the story enough to turn it into a fictional movie, and most of what happens is completely made up. However, in the movie, Private Ryan is still a member of the 101st Airborne. Hanks and Spielberg later took the novel "Band of Brothers" and made it into a 12-part mini series.
And, to answer the original question, Private Niland was from Tonawanda, New York.

 

[KoG Jehuty]

I was never aware of the 'Sole Survivor' policy. I am an only child so it wouldn't qualify for me even in a draft. I can see why they would go after him if that was the case. In my opinion it is bad judgement on the generals and war leaders that they would allow such action to take place. However, some would say that is the act of war, there are always could have would have should have things the people thought about after the war, but when you are in a war it is always the same, win or lose there will be blood shed, it is how much blood are you willing to let spill?

 

[zINaRcOtiXIz]

The time period in wich the movie was based,was a simpler time the united states was still kinda in depression .idk what man in his right mind would get a bunch of guys killed for one. Sound like most the movies now were the carrectors have to choose to kill a few,to save millions but backwards lol...now a days if there was to be a draft I would qualify cause I have children they would make my brother go cause he has none ...