Saving Private Ryan

[Listening skeptically to German propaganda coming over a loudspeaker] Captain John Miller: "The Statue of Liberty is kaput" -- that's disconcerting. Gen. George C. Marshall: I have here a very old letter, written to a Mrs. Bixby in Boston. "Dear Madam: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Yours very sincerely and respectfully, Abraham Lincoln." Capt. Miller: I don't gripe to you. I don't gripe in front of you. You should know that. Pvt. Reiben: Sorry, sir, but let's say you weren't a Captain, or maybe I was a Major. What would you say then? Capt. Miller: In that case, I'd 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 and am willing to lay down the lives of me and my men---especially you, Reiben---to ease her suffering. Captain Miller: Caparzo, get that kid back up there! Private Caparzo: Captain, the decent thing to do would be take her over to the next town. Captain Miller: We're not here to do the decent thing, we're here to follow fucking orders! Private Reiben: You want to explain the math of this to me? I mean, where's the sense in risking the lives of the eight of us to save one guy? Captain Miller: Anyone wanna answer that? Medic Wade: Hey, think about the poor bastard's mother. Private Reiben: Hey, Wade, I got a mother, you got a mother, the sarge has got a mother. I'm willing to bet that even the Captain's got a mother. Well, maybe not the Captain, but the rest of us have got mothers. [Lining up a rifle shot.] Private Jackson: Be not that far from me, for trouble is near; haste Thee to help me. [Lining up a rifle shot.] Private Jackson: Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. [Lining up a rifle shot.] Private Jackson: My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me. [Lining up a rifle shot.] Private Jackson: O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Private Jackson: Seems to me, Cap'n, this mission is a serious misallocation of valuable military resources. Private Jackson: Well, sir, seems to me, God gave me a special gift, fashioned in me a fine instrument of warfare. Sergeant Horvath: I don't know. Part of me thinks the kid's right. He asks what he's done to deserve this. He wants to stay here, fine. Let's leave him and go home. But then another part of me thinks, what if by some miracle we stay, then 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 whole godawful mess. Like you said, Captain, maybe we do that, we all earn the right to go home. Capt. Miller: James... I'm here to tell you your brothers were killed in combat. They're dead. Pvt. Ryan: Which one, sir? Capt. Miller: All of them. Sgt. Horvath: You don't know when to shut up; you don't know HOW to shut up! Private Reiben: I got a bad feeling about this one. Captain Miller: When was the last time you felt good about anything? Private Jackson: What I mean, sir, is if you was to put me with this here sniper rifle anywhere up to and including one mile from Adolf Hitler... with a clean line of sight... well, pack your bags, boys. War's over. Captain John Miller: It's like finding a needle in a stack of needles. Reiben: What's the use in risking the lives of the 8 of us to save one guy? Captain John Miller: He better be worth it. He better go home and cure a disease, or invent a longer-lasting lightbulb. Private Reiben: You wouldn't shoot the kraut and now you're gonna shoot me? Seargent Horvath: He's better than you. Sergeant Horvath: This time the mission is the man. Captain Miller: Sometimes I wonder if I've changed so much, my wife is even gonna recognize me whenever it is I get back to her... and how I'll ever be able to... tell about days like today. Ahh, Ryan... I don't know anything about Ryan, I don't care. The man means nothing to me, he's just a name. But if, you know, if going to Reméal, and finding him so he can go home, if that earns me the right to get back to my wife, well then... then that's my mission. Captain John Miller: Things have taken a turn for the surreal. Private Ryan: Picture a girl who took a nose dive from the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. [Being told he can go home.] Ryan: Hell, these guys deserve to go home as much as I do. They've fought just as hard. Miller: Is that what I'm supposed to tell your mother when she gets another folded American flag? Ryan: You can tell her that when you found me, I was with the only brothers I had left. And that there was no way I was deserting them. I think she'd understand that. Captain John Miller: Earn this. Captain Brian Hamill: You got to take Caen so you can take Saint Lo. Captain John Miller: You've got to take Saint Lo to take Valognes. Captain Brian Hamill: Valognes you got Cherbourg. Captain John Miller: Cherbourg you got Paris. Captain Brian Hamill: Paris you got Berlin. Captain John Miller: And then that big boat home. [Miller purposely draws fire.] Sergeant Horvath: Captain, if your mother saw you do that, she'd be very upset. Private Reiben: What's the saying? "If God's on our side, who the hell could be on theirs?" Upham: "If God is for us, who could be against us?" [Arguing about whether or not to attack the radio nest] Private Reiben: I'm just saying, this seems like an unnecessary risk considering our objective, sir. Captain John Miller: Our objective is to win the war ~ Home ~ Movies ~ Songs ~ Anonymous ~ Women ~ ~ Friendship ~ Life and Success ~ Poems ~ Shakespeare ~ Star Trek ~