I think the un-sung hero of this entire scene has to be the clerk. Someone going through what has to be hundreds in piles. Able to catch such a thing, then go to a whole other desk to find another matching brother is quite incredible. I think its a very honorable way to show our women back home. A mother that truly cares.
To me, the saddest part is the sound of typing. A room full of women typing up death letters, 8 hours a day, every day. Mothers and/or wives of soldiers doing all they could but having to read about others died, typing up the letters accurately to be delivered to women just like them?
And we lost more men on 11 November 1918 in the six hours between the signing of the Armistice and its coming into effect at 11:00 am than we lost on 6 June 1944. Germany had given up in 1918, and yet we still kept killing.
Still brings me to tears.... "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 word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering 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, A. Lincoln"
I really love the way Harve Presnell portrays General Marshall. His voice, so low and clear, clearly sets the way for the rest of this film. I believe this was one of Mr. Presnell's final films if not the last. Harve Presnell, they don't make any more like this, he was a true artist and master of his craft.
What really impressed me during that scene as the General read the letter from A. Lincoln was the way he set the letter down but continued to recite it, word for word, showing what a deep impression that letter made on him.
Indeed. I’m English and always just wrote this off as overly sentimental patriotism but now I’ve learned a lot about George C Marshall, I think he probably would have reacted that way.
@@johnwheatley5641 GCM beloved stepson was killed in Italy on May 29th 1944. In real life around D-Day he would have experienced all the grief that the fictional Mrs. Ryan would feel. Indeed he would have no problem reciting the Bixby letter as this might be his real feeling on June 7th: "I might share with you some words which have sustained me through long, dark nights of peril, loss, and heartache." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_C._Marshall
I love that Spielberg didn't bother with exposition in this scene. The General didn't have to actually say that he'd read that letter countless times, which he obviously had. It was just understood in his delivery;
I've expressed that same sentiment many times. It's a powerful scene. I don't know what about it is stronger, General Marshall reading it or Lincoln's compassion and wisdom writing it.
@@Lorrdd you do, and there's always been people in some of the chains that make the entire thing ineffective. It's the kind of chain where it truly is only as strong as the weakest link.
"WWII seemed to exlimpify the American ideal, despite our obvious shortcomings as a nation then, we are so fucked now it seems like our potential has all but vanished forever." - Abraham Lincoln
@@BF2042ROX We haven't had that many casualties in a war in 80 years. We had more people die in Normandy in day than Iraq and Afghistan combined. We had more people die in the 18 months of US participation in WW1 than the entire the Vietnam war.
This is one of those short clips that represents the finest in the art of cinematography. Absolute genius to have General Marshall sit down and finish the Bixby letter from memory.
The first time I saw this scene I totally lost it when General Marshall closed the book, sat down, and finished the letter from memory. One of my favorite scenes of all time ..... wow
This scene is soul crushing. The sight of the mother, unable to stand, bracing herself for dreadful news, one cannot help but shed a few tears watching this scene.
This very same thing happened to my great aunt in December 1944 in Jourdanton Texas. Her son, my namesake, was killed in action and the family was notified this way.
That flag in the front window, with four stars, indicating that there were four men (sons, brothers?) serving in the US armed forces. It really hits home that some families did really make an ultimate sacrifice. The film is apparently based on the Niland brothers, three in the army and one in the AirForce.
@@michaelhayden725 could have been any family really. My Grandmother had 4 brothers in ww2. 3 pilots and an infantry man in a tank destroyer battalion. I have the newspaper clipping announcing infantryman Hebert Perkins death. The other brother's had joined the Army Air Corp cause they were farmers and knew better than walking in the mud all day. (quote from an uncle) One of the brothers stayed in after the war and made Colonel. HIS son also made Colonel in the 80s. One brother became an attorney, one married a rich girl whose family owned a bunch of lumber yards. Grandmom's sister also married a pilot. He coached high school baseball in Houston Texas and all he ever owned were Chrysler's. I only EVER heard one war story, it was from the Colonel. It was very short comment, while we watched a war movie after Thanksgiving. The movie scene was in the Pacific where the planes dropped their bombs early, thinking they could turn back and the commanders made them do strafing runs to take the focus off planes doing bombing runs. His comment was, that only happened with rookie pilots. You'd get written up if you did it twice, no one wanted their mother to know.
It's so utterly human, she instantly realizes what has happened when she sees the priest come out of the car with the officer and is so emotionally and physically stricken that she can't stand.
Yeah....just like I knew exactly why the USAF chaplain was coming up the stairs to our door back in May 1983. Though my younger brother's death wasn't due to combat, he was still gone just the same.
But it's still a movie. Of course, there wouldn't have been this movie if this scene didn't exist. But, even in the movie, the screenwriter chose to offset one life removed from harms way at a cost of many others. A purpose of art ... to make us ponder
@@Blogzergiven that this movie is based on the Niland brothers, two of whom did die in WWII, the third became a prisoner of war. The fourth was evacuated. So yes there would have been many clerks who did chase up on cases where there were family deaths. Cheers!
My Dad, Told the Navy he was Not color blind....he lied. He fought for us, no one could stop him. He married the prettiest girl in the world for 54 years. He was the Best Man in the marriages of his three sons. Because He was the Best Man.❤
There were some members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion who lied about their poor eyesight. As their Higgins boat approached Utah Beach, they put their glasses on. ❤
Yes. Your Dad, wow. My Dad too. I was in the Marine Corp, pencil pusher. I don't consider myself a real Marine. The real servicemen we're in the Shit. Blessings to the memory of your Dad.
Artifacts like Lincons letter are lost in today's time. Sold off to pay this and that. Unfortunately with knowledge at our finger tips. Memorizing powerful notes like this becomes very rare.
As a Vietnam veteran, I did not think about the persons writing or typing the MIA/KIA notices. I salute my military sisters and brothers and their families. Semper Fi.
I am a Gulf War veteran. Generation X. Thank you so much for everything YOUR generation did for mine. We came home to parades,education benefits,housing benefits,and VA healthcare and pensions. That is entirely because of you. You wanted us to have all the things you deserved,but were shamefully denied. You,are our fathers. We,are your sons. And our gratitude is only exceeded by our love,and our respect. Thank you for your service.
I am a Viet Nam Era veteran. I was fortunate to have stayed stateside. Some of my buddies didn't make it back though, and the ones who did were forever changed. Glad you made it back. USMC 69' - 73' Semper Fi.
when this movie came out, I took my father to see it. His father, my grandfather, Lt. Colonel Walter John Paton of the 58th Artillery Division was at Omaha Beech with his men. Sadly, he went on a recon mission in March of 1945 and his jeep hit a land mine. Lt. Colonel Paton was the only educator from the town of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts to be killed during this war. So, in the early 1950's, the town built a new elementry school and named it after him. My family is honored.
I do wonder if your dear grandfather, god bless him, would have chuckled at the irony of going on a reconnaissance mission and his jeep then hitting a land mine. The old timers were like that, saw the humor in everything, even their own mortality.
My grandfather taught at the Beal School. Still there along with Paton Square and Paton Street just a few feet down the street from the school. And my mom's step brother , James Andersen,. My brothers namesake, Was shot down on the way back to England from a bombing run into the sea. Never found.
As an addendum to my first post, my heart hurts for all those women in the War Office during WW2, who had to type the condolence letters to all those mothers,fathers, sisters and brothers...must have been a gut wrenching job...
So did I..after serving in Iraq and Afcrapistan..I can feel the pain of the families that have lost a loved one in this worthless wars...future generations will laugh at us for doin so.
It was worse - oh god, it was so much worse - in real life. She wouldn't have gotten them all at the same time. She would have gotten them... *one after the other*.
Me too Kiwi, I think all mothers of recently deceased soldiers should be flown to Washington DC on a plane and have breakfast with the President. A hundred or so at the time, load up the plane, and let the President say something nice to the ladies. Won't bring the sons back, but it will remind the President of the impact of his decisions.
I first read the lines from Lincoln's letter many years before Private Ryan came out. I was in Hawaii and went to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, The Punch Bowl. It is engraved on the marble wall above the Gardens of the Missing. It teared me up then and teared me up now. My wife's Grandmother had a flag with four blue stars like that, fortunately none of them turned Gold but Iwo Jima pushed that hard. My father served in the Navy in the Pacific and he came home. I was born in 1946. Thank you to all the service men and women who protect us. (PS, I served for 22 years US Army.)
@@joannpritchett5076 I read it as an early teen. When in the movies as soon as I heard Mrs Bixby I choked and again here. And I had a Nam tour in MC. She reminds me of my previous wife's mom. They were farmer's too. She devoted her life to their lives. Thanks for wearing khaki and glad you're safe.
I had a young soldier who got killed during desert storm. I wrote letters of condolence to his mother and wife. We had deployed out of Germany, so my wife and the rear detachment NCO and chaplain went out and visited my soldier's wife of one month of marriage... They also attended the funeral... My wife told me later... how the mother of my young soldier cried, and she cried, and she cried... the tears were so bitter she said. So now, when i watched this video... see that helpless mother sliding down in grief, almost falling in sickness of news anticipated but not enjoyed...i must cry bitter tears also, 24 years later... for a man who is still a newly wed and forever 22 years of age... and there is nothing we can do about it. Do we cry? I still do.
+Debbie collins I extend the love of Christ to you Debbie... but I am not a warrior... I am only simple person, blessed by God to be here. God bless you, but most of all God bless all soldiers who fight for right and not for power. Peace to you this Christmas and Holiday season!
@86sith For banks are you stupid your like the most ignorant person I've heard in this video fucking bitch what are you talking about and killing brown people are you crazy.
I was a casualty clerk in Bien Hoa SVN. I kept track of the injured soldiers whose injuries only required short stays in the field hospitals. The man who sat in front of me typed the awful letters to the parents of the men killed in our division, and he typed many. For some reason, it means to me more today than when I was 21 years old. I was DEROS'd only a few weeks when a high school friend, in my same division, lost his life flying a chopper. I felt guilty about making it home, when he didn't. I've had 54 more years of life than he had, as well as many others, 58,000-plus. War is awful, and the memories and scars remain. I am grateful Jesus finally got my attention at age 26.
Thank you for your service. Condolences to you and countless others who lost loved ones and acquaintances doing the dirty work of humanity. Freedom isn’t free. But worth even the ultimate price, I pray.
Zip zen ac - you're spreading your antisemitic lies all over the place. Not a SINGLE American soldier has EVER fought in a war on behalf of Israel. The Israelis can fight their own wars very well on their own. On the contrary, GHW Bush sent HALF A MILLION AMERICAN TROOPS to liberate Kuwait and protect Saudi Arabia - and they still hate America. The lies you spread about Jews are your pathetic attempt to spread your antisemitic illness to others. Get help.
@Zip Zenac So did the pita bread not agree with your stomach or something? As a matter of fact, it is the USA that relies on Israeli HumInt, lots of it. This is one of the (many) reasons that the two countries cooperate so closely. Your assessment of the Israeli army's inability to stand up to a Western army indicate the level of incompetence allowed to a "liaison officer" like you. You are a disgrace to the Armed Forces. An Israeli commando I know who has studied the US Marines training found that the Israelis are in much better shape for real duty. The IAF demonstrated during the Gulf War of Bush Sr. that they could quickly do the job that the USAF was afraid to do, flying low to identify targets correctly instead of blowing up Saddam's dummy decoys. The Israelis, back then, actually found and fixed software bugs in the Patriot guidance systems, that the Americans couldn't deal with. Zenac, you make us laugh. And you can rest assured that the Israelis are very aware of the US CIA spies working in Israel. Especially those spying on Israel. You aren't revealing anything new here. Your assessment that Egypt is "the main threat" to Israel is laughable. The two countries cooperate very closely in dealing with ISIS in Sinai, Hamas in Gaza (both countries are blockading Gaza) and with other Jihadi enemies. I have spoken to MFO personnel. They are absolutely terrified of their Egyptian Bedouin neighbors and don't leave their compound except in convoy or by air. When they get to go visit Israel, they just LOVE it here - they can walk freely without fear, enjoy the sun, chat to people, have a beer - nothing like Egypt. "Huge cost to the US taxpayer"? Are you nuts? Firstly, the MFO is a small force and small change in Defense Dollars terms. Secondly, the US spends vastly more - in American Blood and Money - in other areas - e.g. protecting the Arab states from each other. Israel does it's own protecting itself. NO AMERICAN SOLDIER HAS EVER FOUGHT A WAR ON BEHALF OF ISRAEL. EVER. Zip Zenac, you have already established your credentials as a lunatic and Jew-hater. Your lying about Israel isn't convincing anyone, except the - what did you call them? - "gullible fools" who don't know anything. Try your lies somewhere else.
The moment when she face the door, take a deep breath, and start walking to the front door, thinking about which one of her boys was killed. Heartbreaking.
Not a single one of them were “suckers” or “losers”, and anyone who says otherwise doesn’t deserve to live in this wonderful country, let alone be a president of this country.
My mum always said' Governments make the wars, the poor people have to fight them'. They liveth for evermore.... May the Lord bless our dear American friends. With deepest respect to all who fought against Nazi tyranny, 🙏 from Australia, and Britain 🇬🇧
Here in the Netherlands there are still people who know that we owe an incredible debt of honor to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and the families they left behind. I am one of them.
General Marshal was the very embodiment of what America and her citizens should aspire to be -powerful, decisive, intelligent and morally righteous. From what I've read about him he was easily one of the greatest wartime leaders in any country, at any given time in history.
+victor256in He was one of Pershing's favorites, along with George Pattton, his aide-de-Camp. One of his main contributions was washing out the old walrus Major Generals who commanded the peace-time Nation Guard Divisionson the basis of political pull.
@zip zenac - At this very moment, here in Israel, I'm listening to radio reports on the latest war that Islamic Hamas is waging on Israel. After negotiating a ceasefire with Israel, the Palestinian Jihadis in Gaza fired over 200 rockets into Israeli towns today in just two hours, hitting houses and sending the south of Israel into bomb shelters. A 19 year old Israeli was severely injured when a Palestinian anti-tank rocket was aimed at, and hit, a bus. The same irrational, crazed hatred of Jews that zip zen ac suffers from is the same illness that drives the death-glorifying jihadis of Gaza. And both of them base their sick ideologies on many, many lies about Jews. Zip Zenacs non-factual rantings here demonstrate this amply.
Fun fact: the general reciting the lincoln letter is the General Marshall after which the Marshall plan was named. For his work on this plan for the rebuilding of europe he is the only army general to receive the nobel peace prize!
The Gen Z lot all have forgotten, and what sacrifice is, believe me. Sadly the world is getting worse every day and some day there won’t be a generation left to give a damn anymore.
"Boy's alive, we are gonna somebody to find him, and we are gonna get him the hell outta there." That's what real power does; it makes things right. Scene still kicks my ass every time I see it.
My grandfather was on the Western front in WW1 from October 1914 until the end of the year. He lost 2 brothers during the war. A 3rd brother drowned in New Years Day 1919 when his troopship sunk within sight of his home harbour - the Iolaire disaster. The sacrifices some families made were incredible.
Can you imagine the Courage of all those American, British and Canadian troops who hit those beaches. (I know there were other nationalities there too, I'm just using the Nations who had beaches assigned to them). Heroes, one and all !
@Stinkmeaner again, you are a fool. Do you think that the American regime is any less violent and bloody? Do you not think that the Americans have killed Indians, gays, and blacks?
And of the German soldiers who defend their conquered nation from the onslaught, under a barrage of the likes unseen since the war fought by their fathers. n
The film was loosely based on the actual Niland brothers story from 1944, where 3 of 4 brothers were presumed killed in action (1 of them, thought dead, actually was later found to have survived in a Japanese POW camp and was later repatriated) and the sole surviving brother was extracted from service abroad and sent stateside. This was an all-too-real concern for the Armed Services; the 5 Sullivan brothers all served on the USS Juneau and all were lost when the ship was sunk in 1942. Four of five serving Borgstrom brothers in 1944 died within a few months in the war, and the family petitioned the military, which then removed and discharged the 5th brother and sent him home, and excluded the 6th brother (who was not yet of age) from military service. The Sole Survivor policy was formally implemented in 1948 and persists to this day
Ray Herbst also influenced by the Sullivan brothers. They refused to be put on separate ships, during the battle of Guadalcanal their ship sunk. All 5 died, it's one of the main reasons brothers are not allowed to serve in the same ship anymore.
I went to college with a guy whose great-grandfather was the youngest of five sons, the other four all died on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme The Sole Survivor Policy is a very, very good idea
My mother graduated high school in Kenmore, N.Y. in 1945, in the back of her yearbook, there were at least 2 dozen young men, classmates with their military photo that died in the war. This always made my mother cry.
Sadly it didn't end with the war too many ended their own lives, drank themselves to death or lost ALL family ties because they were unable to re-integrate back to society.
I immigrated to the US when I was 17 and this was the first movie I watched in a drama class at my high school. This scene stuck in my head for a long time. When I learned about WW2 and that 401,000 Americans had died fighting in it, this scene came to mind and gave me a strong realization that decades before I came, American mothers and fathers had paid for the freedoms and privileges that I came here to enjoy, with the lives of their children. It's sad that this history means so little to a lot of Americans today.
Welcome to America. If you dig a little deeper you will find many Americans who deeply understand and appreciate this history. Many of those people fly the flag.
Marshall graduated from VMI in 1901. I was privileged to do the same 75 years later. He was the example for us all to try, in all humility, to follow. Because that was his most defining characteristic. If America produces another Marshall, when we need him, it means God is not done with us yet.
I agree. After FDR, General Marshall was the most important American of WW II. And service to America and the world did not end with the winning of the War. It continued in peace. As Secretary of State, General Marshall was responsible for the American aid known as the Marshall Plan that rebuilt war ravaged Europe and Japan for which Marshall received the Nobel Peace Prize. He also served as Secretary of Defense during the Korean War.
@@vivianpowell1732 Marshall once said, in response to a question about overproduction of military supplies, that "this is the first time in US wartime history that the American GI has had more than he needs to do the job of fighting we are asking him to do, and if I am responsible for that, I have no problem with it."
*****" they sunk our ships at an alarming rate in 1942"...Yet we managed to overwhelm them by sending more and more merchant ships and perfecting our anti-submarine tactics. Now imagine if we weren't burdened by having to send so much aid across the atlantic to begin with. " they were the bigger threat, Germany could have survived without Japan, but Japan"...Threat to whom? Not to the U.S. as you've already admitted. Let the european dictators slug it out. Europe would possibly have had one less dictator (stalin) with a Nazi-dominated mainland Europe instead of the soviet steamroller taking over all of eastern Europe. And our commerce and affairs would have shifted over to asia a lot sooner than it eventually did.
+Darth Belal Our politicians should realize the sacrifices of our armed forces and should not throw it all away by selling our country out by being politically correct.
Spend a little time learning about General Marshall and you'll find that he was an extraordinary man, and the portrayal of him in this film is awesome.
@@noirjacques3274 I did the same. As a purple heart Vietnam vet it may surprise some that the extra burden of how the folks at home would handle our demise was like a 400 lb boulder on our backs. We talked about it, even joked about it, but it was no laughing matter. We even drew up tombstones for each other. Some times we were offered body escort fro a KIA to their home. Never. I would rather stay in the field.
@@dbeaus 👍- I’m Australian, and when we have our annual ANZAC day commemorations, including marches and services at the memorial shrines across the country. On tv, we show these march of Veterans from many a conflict, we lost one of our last ANZAC’S (those who arrived at Gallipoli, Turkey in 1915) in recent years. My grandfather fought with the 4th Light Horse in Beersheba in 1917. I finally got myself to a Dawn Service, one of those commemorative services, a couple of years ago- so incredibly moving. Much respect to you and all veterans for your service. 🙏🇦🇺🇺🇸🇫🇷🇬🇧
😭One of the reasons I will never betray the United States of America 🇺🇸 ❤ Many have died in my country and for my people 🇫🇷 they died for the idea of Liberty (precious value). I said it before and I’ll say it again as long as live GOD BLESS AMERICA 🇺🇸 ✝️
@Stinkmeaner younfucking idiot. Yes, soldiers fight. Do you think american soldiers did not do the same elsewhere??? When the soldier puts down his arms, he is be treated humanely. The law does not say only if you re not angry. You have no sense of soldierly honor. You.re a beast. I was a soldier. You are a murderer.
The way the mom became so unsteady and had to sit down knowing that her nightmare is about to come true always makes me tear up. No words need to be spoken tells you how powerful this scene is.
This scene makes me weep every time I see it. My parents had two sons. My older brother served in the Army during Korea and I served in the Marines during Vietnam Thankfully we both came home without a scratch. I cannot imagine how my mother would have felt if it had been one of us.
My father was in the Australian Army and was an intelligence officer attached to the US troops that retook New Britain. He was missing in action for 6 months and my mother suffered terribly. He had been captured and held prisoner in Rabaul where he was mistreated. His elder brother was in a protected occupation and his youngest brother was killed at Kokoda. When the US overwhelmed Rabaul and he was released, he was sent home and medically discharged. As the war in the Pacific came to a close and as he was a lawyer, he was sent to the Pacific War Crimes Tribunals where he was first a prosecutor and then a Judge Advocate. He was the Judge that ordered the hanging of four Japanese officers and NCOs who were his prison guards and Commandant. He told me that it did weigh on him heavily and I read the court transcripts where they are stored in our National Archives. He took his experiences to his grave.
Amazing story. Not to make light, but that sounds like a better story than Saving Private Ryan. Truth is truly stranger (and better) than fiction. I mean, what were the odds? I can see that you have excellent writing skills. Please get as much information as you can about your Fathers wartime odyssey. This story has to be told.You must be very proud of your Father. Men and Women who fought for our freedoms during WWII truly were "The Greatest Generation". I envy you.
I wouldn't have been able to hold my composure at JAGing. Id say to hell with them pigs and string up high and make them suffer. I can't believe it weighed on him heavily to sentence them.
My mom said that my grandfather Vecencio Santos helped a Japanese soldier suffering from diarrhea here in Davao City during the war. Years later my grandfather died, their neighbors said there was a Japanese who was looking for him but since the family had transferred to a different location, they never met the Japanese again.
And this scene was repeated over and over again throughout the war. I can't thank them enough - THE GREATEST GENERATION. It reminds me to be grateful every day to the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice ... so I can be free. "Freedom is never free". It was paid with the precious blood of our heroes and martyrs.
The power of this opening is incredible. From the secretary who saw the names, and realized that three brothers had died. Without words, you could tell she was a mother herself by the horror on her face, all the way to General Marshall using the power of all four of his stars to declare that Ryan was alive, and they were going to get him.
Three years late, but that's a phenomenal memory, too. That clerk seemed to be reviewing one of the letters, but also had enough memory to go "wait..." and check the rest of her stack, and then walk over to a stack of other letters to pull a third letter to confirm that, no, it's not just a coincidence, it's not just similar last names, but 3 losses from a single family.
Musician and veteran of theater and film Harve Presnell. His three minutes in this film pale in comparison to his career, but also might have been his best-known work.
"The boy's alive. We are gonna send somebody to find him. And we are gonna get him the HELL...out of THERE." Chills. One of the best-delivered lines in any movie, ever.
I don't know who she is, but the woman who played the 'Mother' - Mrs.Ryan, was absolutely brilliant. There needs to be no words spoken in that scene to understand the heartache in that moment. You don't even see her face when it all hits her. I've seen the film a half a million times by now, and I'm still surprised that I cry watching that scene from the car, to her seeing that car, to her silently walking to the door, all the while processing the tragedy. To be overcome so forcefully that gravity seem all too much. People always seem to focus on the quote from Lincoln used in the scene following, but nothing would motivate me more than to have seen that reaction, and to never want her to have that reaction ever again. It's ironic I should find this clip the day before Nov11, a hundred year anniversary of the Great War. We pay tribute to those who have been lost in war, but we seem to forget the weight the families bared during that time. Even now, returning wounded soldiers are recovering with the help of their families. And yet there are still some that have to endure their wounds alone. We do a lot the 'honour' the service of those who serve, but I think we've diminished the effort to carry on by their families. I wish more people remembered this scene rather than the tanks, and the gunfire. I think this scene says a lot more than people realize.
This scene is brilliantly filmed. Showing the beautiful farm, well-tended and isolated by a vast sea of crops. The mother’s entire adult life spent there working hard, raising and nurturing her children. She has created a fine warm home for her family. The four-starred flag hung on the farmhouse porch, a star for each son in the service. This is the heartland of America where so many mother’s saw their son’s off to war, where many - too many - would never return to that peaceful place.
Seeing her open the front door to walk outside & greet that car, despite her greatest fears of the news it brings, illustrates how bravery isn't only shown on the battlefield, but by those back home who sent their loved ones. I think we all understand Private Ryan's reluctance to be rescued after seeing his mother's gumption to face that approaching car.
When I read these stories of service and sacrifice, I am reminded that people of our generation (boomers. genz. snd others ) stand on the shoulders of those who served and sacrificed before we were born
I still come back to this movie a lot. Read not long ago that Harve Presnell was asked to read the Bixby letter during his audition for the role of General Marshall. It only took him reading it once to memorize it, they picked him on the spot. He verbatim dropped the letter on the desk in the film because he didn't need to read it as he spoke. Adds even more power to how moving this is. Man was a legend. Emotions run deep in this scene.
I am a Korean immigrant. came across the Mt. Soledad national veteans memorial while I was in San Diego for sightseeing to find a wall of plaques honoring American soldiers (mostly 18 to 20 old kids) killed in Korean War. I knew America fought against Soviet and chinese in Korean War, but it was shocking to actually see the faces of young americans(some teenagers) who died in defending korean people and freedom. I am grateful to USA, not perfect, but the greatest country on earth. I am surprised to find some people complaining, talking trash about this country. they don't have a clue how lucky and blessed to be an american. Thank God for America, and God bless America
philip c thank you for sharing that with us sir. We are so very blessed here in the USA. Some people just don’t care to understand the sacrifice made by many to make it what it is today. Peace brother🇺🇸
If you took the establishing shot of the farm, the shot of the mother doing dishes, and added just like, one camera sequence sort of touring the empty house for about a minute, catching a glimpse of a few subtle clues about the boys that had lived there, then ended with the scene at the doorstep, with no words at all, you would have an award winning short film.
We never see the mom's face and yet her anguish is the most powerful moment in the clip, when she sees the priest getting out of the car and she can no longer even stay on her feet. Stunning filmmaking.
I cannot watch this scene without getting emotional. I have never had the honor of serving, so I can only say THANK YOU to much braver, better men than I.
Thanks for posting. I am specially moved when I noticed that the General Marshall starts by reading from the letter - and then recites the rest of the letter from memory.
@@seoulglo1999 don't you just love trolls who suck the sentiment and meaning out of everything? Like you for example. Your life is so empty, you feel you must spread your peculiar species of self loathing to everyone else.
Powerful scene. Something that just occurred to me was first, that fatherly general Marshall had a pair of 'lowly' bird colones for advisers. BUT the old colonel who advocated NOT sending a rescue mission was right. Sending them into that situation would get them all killed. That colonel was wearing a French fourragere, a silver star and a DSM. With that silver hair, it was likely from WW1 service in France. They are all combat vets, but although old man Marshall gave a great scene, the WW1 combat bad-ass gave a truthful and honest assessment of what would happen.
KT Simpson Agreed, super-powerful scene The typing with the voice-overs for snippets of the letters, the clerk discovering the letters, mrs ryan collapsing on the porch... "The old colonel" is Dale Dye, USMC capt, Nam vet. He runs training camps for actors so they can realistically portray grunts. He was also in PLATOON. The camp for RYAN was like a week, they lived in the field, weapons training, patrol, etc. Damon was not there to add to the harsh attitude they had toward him in the movie.
I didn't even recognize him! He was in a few Platoon scenes as the Company Commander and also as the door gunner on a UH1. Dale must have enlisted or commissioned in the 50s. So I would imagine that he served with a TON of WW2 vets and would be the best person to get the details of the uniforms right. Dale's the man.
another awesome thing was when Marshall was READING Lincoln's letter to mrs Bixby(letter is real), as gets to the end u notice he's not reading it, he's RECITING it, he memorized the letter..."and we are going to get him the hell out of there." Spielberg is a master.
A stunning set of scenes in every way - the mother who never says a word - the clerk who notices something amiss - the general who has Lincoln's words committed to memory and who ignores the advice he is given to do the right thing. All in 8 minutes.
i still remember the day when i saw the movie in pune(india) in 2008. i had to stand in q that was of great length.after around 1.30 hrs i got the ticket of late night show.i was just 20 and when the movie started i was not there at all.for the first time in my life i experienced someting which cannot be explained in one line.i could not sleep that night.i was doing mba.i bunked the class next day and watched it again.spr became the favourite of my list.thegreatness of spielberg is self evident.kaminski can show his true colors with spielberg.kahn is incomparable among others.what a great collaboration.great people.
that's one of the most heartbreaking letters that Marshall has memorised. "that boy's alive..we are gonna send somebody to find him..and we're gonna get him the hell outta there"...Great stuff.
One of the most spectacular scenes in the history of film. Both in the score, the emotional effect, the dialogue and spectacularly the selection of the actor to play General George C Marshall to read Lincoln’s words. Never be a film to surpass this scene.
I worked with a Navy Chaplain who had to make visits like that (mid 80’s). Their policy was to send a duty officer with the Chaplain, whoever drew the short straw. They would travel in separate vehicles. After delivering the news, the duty officer would leave, and the Chaplain would then comfort the family. This was so that the bearer of the news would not be the same one to be offering condolences and compassion.
So many great actors in this film. Especially overlooked character actors like Dale Dye, Harve Presnell, and a then at the the time character actor who would blow up big time Bryan Cranston.
Jay Reffner character actors like Dale Dye???? Are you fuckin high??? Dale Dye was an officer when Oliver Stone was in Vietnam, when he made Platoon Dye trained the actors in Thailand and Stone cast him in that movie, a character actor.. hilarious.
Definition of a character actor is someone, not the lead, who plays an important or significant supporting role. Dale Dye (SPR, BoB, etc, etc) fits that definition, but,...you knew that.
Thank you to all the brave men in history who fought for democracy and what was right and just. Because of your sacrifice, I get to sit at home in front of my computer watching this on youtube.
I work in a nursing home and currently the amount of WW2 vets is almost gone. I currently have in my care one, in his 90s. He only moved in bc of Covid rules that kept him from visiting his wife. It breaks my heart bc he doesn't call for help with his call button bc he doesnt want to bother us since we are running short staffed( we always have people quiting/ our state legal limit says 1 caregiver can attend 15 people). I always check on him even though he doesn't call for help. I talk to him about his life when I provide care bc someone has to make him feel like a human.
Madeline you’re an amazing person. You have such a good heart. I’m a ship captain. I hope I have the spare time to volunteer when things get back to normal when I’m in rotation. God love you.
Though evidence now available suggests it was mostly written by his two personal secretaries for his review and approval. His first inaugural, for example, was reviewed by cabinet members. But his second inaugural was entirely his.
As much as I love a "bridge too far"..." Guns navarone" etc.....this and Band of Brothers have set a standard of war movie that will be so incredibly tough to top. Thoughts for the mothers and fathers...sisters and brothers that sacrificed their personal greatest generation members🇺🇲🇬🇧🇭🇲🇨🇦🇲🇫
I feel so sorry for that mother. Knowing that you've lost 3 of your own kids in the war at the snap of a finger. When she saw the car approaching her house, she knew something was wrong.
@@SpeedyWings2323 No, that was one of the Niland brothers, whose true story was the basis for SPR. The Niland brother in the Pacific was thought to have been killed, but was in fact a POW of the Japanese and was repatriated at the end of the war. The Ryan brothers are fictional, in the book and movie, so three of them fictionally die. As for the thought to be only surviving Niland brother, I'm not sure, but I believe they just ordered him removed from his unit and sent State-side. I don't think they sent a squad of Rangers behind enemy limes to extract him.
I’m just now realizing that Marshall stops reading from the page before he finishes. He has the letter memorized and even keeping it in his desk shows how important it is to him
My mom was a WW2's soldier's wife, a Vietnam War's soldier's mother, and I served in the Gulf War, and we all made it back, but the thought of the possibility her receiving any of those letters is heart wrenching.
Honest to God, this movie is something else. For a WW2 film to have A-list actors and for the film to not once feel like something that was created by Hollywood takes a lot of skill. The level of achievement in storytelling that Spielberg reached in this film is of a different realm in cinema. Simply cannot be duplicated. It's no wonder Veterans of this war felt the Normandy scene to the core. Ever scene feels like an extraction out of World History. A lot of that is credited to Janusz Kaminski's brilliant cinematography.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
I think the un-sung hero of this entire scene has to be the clerk. Someone going through what has to be hundreds in piles. Able to catch such a thing, then go to a whole other desk to find another matching brother is quite incredible. I think its a very honorable way to show our women back home. A mother that truly cares.
Luke C Well said. I couldn’t have said it better.
Well said
Amen brother.
Yeah like she noticed that a Ryan is dead. Then notices a similar Ryan is dead. It'd definitely triggered her motherly instinct
@@daoyang223 she noticed how they were going to the same woman. the mother
The most heart wrenching scene of the whole movie. One can't imagine how many mothers dreaded seeing that car coming to their house.
+Robert Hickson This scene brings me to tears every time. I put myself in her shoes and the tears fall,that's a great scene with impact. I felt it.
And seeing the priest step out...
I remember the day the car stopped in front of my house. 27 April 2011
A J Mc Laughlin How could you not , it has made an indelible stamp in your memory That was a life altering moment ..
+SCE2AUX2 I always lose it at that point - she sees him and her knees give way. no one has to say a word.
To me, the saddest part is the sound of typing. A room full of women typing up death letters, 8 hours a day, every day. Mothers and/or wives of soldiers doing all they could but having to read about others died, typing up the letters accurately to be delivered to women just like them?
I think I had read that we lost 900 men a day in Europe on average from D-Day to V-E Day.
And we lost more men on 11 November 1918 in the six hours between the signing of the Armistice and its coming into effect at 11:00 am than we lost on 6 June 1944. Germany had given up in 1918, and yet we still kept killing.
Russia has exceeded US casualty rates from WW2 in just the last two years, let that sink in....
Righteous. The United States suffered c109,000 killed in Europe from DDay to May 1945 which includes all services.
Yup😢
JESSE WE NEED TO SAVE RYAN.
THE BUNKERS JESSE!
"If this don't work we will cook meth!!!"
You mean Todd
Yo but mistah white, they’ve got like machine guns, B**ch
Tell the Nazis, I AM THE DANGER.
Still brings me to tears....
"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 word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering 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,
A. Lincoln"
😢😢😢😢😢 NO!! Jesus Christ help me 😫😫😫😫
people don't talk that way anymore...
@@Hongobogologomo Mainly because they're both stupid AND ignorant...
I really love the way Harve Presnell portrays General Marshall. His voice, so low and clear, clearly sets the way for the rest of this film. I believe this was one of Mr. Presnell's final films if not the last. Harve Presnell, they don't make any more like this, he was a true artist and master of his craft.
@@WMJCPA he did 11 films after, his last in 2010, but they were very small roles, though his role in SPR was also fairly small to be fair.
What really impressed me during that scene as the General read the letter from A. Lincoln was the way he set the letter down but continued to recite it, word for word, showing what a deep impression that letter made on him.
Indeed. I’m English and always just wrote this off as overly sentimental patriotism but now I’ve learned a lot about George C Marshall, I think he probably would have reacted that way.
@@johnwheatley5641 GCM beloved stepson was killed in Italy on May 29th 1944. In real life around D-Day he would have experienced all the grief that the fictional Mrs. Ryan would feel. Indeed he would have no problem reciting the Bixby letter as this might be his real feeling on June 7th:
"I might share with you some words which have sustained me through long, dark nights of peril, loss, and heartache."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_C._Marshall
I have heard that the actor memorized all that and still could barely get it out because it just about broke him.
O7
I love that Spielberg didn't bother with exposition in this scene. The General didn't have to actually say that he'd read that letter countless times, which he obviously had. It was just understood in his delivery;
I've expressed that same sentiment many times. It's a powerful scene. I don't know what about it is stronger, General Marshall reading it or Lincoln's compassion and wisdom writing it.
The chain-of-command actually working here to bring this woman's observation and concern to to the Chief-of-Staff is beautiful.
Too many ass kissers brown nosers and CYA types nowadays.
@@BF2042ROX only if they're dumb. You ALWAYS go up the chain.
@@Lorrdd you do, and there's always been people in some of the chains that make the entire thing ineffective. It's the kind of chain where it truly is only as strong as the weakest link.
"WWII seemed to exlimpify the American ideal, despite our obvious shortcomings as a nation then, we are so fucked now it seems like our potential has all but vanished forever." - Abraham Lincoln
@@BF2042ROX We haven't had that many casualties in a war in 80 years. We had more people die in Normandy in day than Iraq and Afghistan combined. We had more people die in the 18 months of US participation in WW1 than the entire the Vietnam war.
This is one of those short clips that represents the finest in the art of cinematography. Absolute genius to have General Marshall sit down and finish the Bixby letter from memory.
hearts76100 and his cinematographer
Spielberg damn sure knows how to direct a movie! Excellent!
Who else thought of leadership when he gave the order to get the surviving son out of the war ?
that's directing not cinematography!
@@larrysullivan8890 ~ When he flat out told them, "The boys alive..." There was no question.
The reading of Lincoln’s letter went through me like a knife
That president is held in awe. Illiquent, humble, powerful. The pride of that moment. 🌹
I thought it was brilliantly read and recited by the actor Harve Presnell. I wonder how many takes Speilberg required before the scene was perfect.
Handwriting experts believe that it was written by John Hay.
That and the scene of his mother seeing the priest and her reaction to sit down.
Noticed how General Marshall stopped reading directly from Lincoln's letter 2/3 through....he had it memorized. Nice touch in the film.
The first time I saw this scene I totally lost it when General Marshall closed the book, sat down, and finished the letter from memory. One of my favorite scenes of all time ..... wow
What a burden. That you can recite Lincoln’s words from heart. And mean it too. “We are going to get him the hell out of there.”
Yes. A great scene
Yup.
🇺🇸🙏🏽✝️
I thought the background music in Private Ryan and Band of Brothers is perfect
This scene is soul crushing. The sight of the mother, unable to stand, bracing herself for dreadful news, one cannot help but shed a few tears watching this scene.
This very same thing happened to my great aunt in December 1944 in Jourdanton Texas. Her son, my namesake, was killed in action and the family was notified this way.
That flag in the front window, with four stars, indicating that there were four men (sons, brothers?) serving in the US armed forces. It really hits home that some families did really make an ultimate sacrifice. The film is apparently based on the Niland brothers, three in the army and one in the AirForce.
@@michaelhayden725 And now 3 of them will be gold.
@@michaelhayden725 could have been any family really. My Grandmother had 4 brothers in ww2. 3 pilots and an infantry man in a tank destroyer battalion. I have the newspaper clipping announcing infantryman Hebert Perkins death.
The other brother's had joined the Army Air Corp cause they were farmers and knew better than walking in the mud all day. (quote from an uncle)
One of the brothers stayed in after the war and made Colonel. HIS son also made Colonel in the 80s. One brother became an attorney, one married a rich girl whose family owned a bunch of lumber yards.
Grandmom's sister also married a pilot. He coached high school baseball in Houston Texas and all he ever owned were Chrysler's.
I only EVER heard one war story, it was from the Colonel. It was very short comment, while we watched a war movie after Thanksgiving. The movie scene was in the Pacific where the planes dropped their bombs early, thinking they could turn back and the commanders made them do strafing runs to take the focus off planes doing bombing runs.
His comment was, that only happened with rookie pilots. You'd get written up if you did it twice, no one wanted their mother to know.
All 3 notices on the same day, would be way better than all 3 the same week.
I have had the privilege of knowing a WW11 vet, Korean vet, Nam Vet, Desert storm vet. All heroes to me.....all of them.
I knew a Spanish American war vet. At least 15 WW1 Veterans Hundreds of WW 2 veterans.
Other missions need to be recognized Oct 23 1983 241 Marines lost there lives in beruit Lebanon Grenada Somalia balklands ect
It's so utterly human, she instantly realizes what has happened when she sees the priest come out of the car with the officer and is so emotionally and physically stricken that she can't stand.
Yeah....just like I knew exactly why the USAF chaplain was coming up the stairs to our door back in May 1983. Though my younger brother's death wasn't due to combat, he was still gone just the same.
Wondering which son she has lost, only to find out she has lost 3 of her 4 sons.
I tear up every time I see it
I perceive that a GENERAL was sent due to the gravity of the tragedy.
@@markwilken2492 I haven't been able to watch that scene since the first time I saw this movie. I skip past it now.....
That anonymous clerk is the UNSUNG hero of this film...no-one would've thought to look for him without her catching those three letters.
But it's still a movie. Of course, there wouldn't have been this movie if this scene didn't exist. But, even in the movie, the screenwriter chose to offset one life removed from harms way at a cost of many others.
A purpose of art ... to make us ponder
@@Blogzergiven that this movie is based on the Niland brothers, two of whom did die in WWII, the third became a prisoner of war. The fourth was evacuated. So yes there would have been many clerks who did chase up on cases where there were family deaths. Cheers!
My Dad, Told the Navy he was Not color blind....he lied. He fought for us, no one could stop him.
He married the prettiest girl in the world for 54 years. He was the Best Man in the marriages of his three sons. Because He was the Best Man.❤
Love it...❤❤
There were some members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion who lied about their poor eyesight. As their Higgins boat approached Utah Beach, they put their glasses on. ❤
Wow, God Bless your Dad !!
Yes. Your Dad, wow. My Dad too. I was in the Marine Corp, pencil pusher. I don't consider myself a real Marine. The real servicemen we're in the Shit. Blessings to the memory of your Dad.
Your father, like mine, was a true warrior.
What got me the most was that General Marshall had Lincoln's letter memorized. People like that are very rare, especially these days.
Artifacts like Lincons letter are lost in today's time. Sold off to pay this and that. Unfortunately with knowledge at our finger tips. Memorizing powerful notes like this becomes very rare.
@Zip Zenac this part "isn't just a movie", the letter is a true story.
Marshall a very underrated American. A Great Man , a Great Leader .
I have Christopher Walken's speech from Pulp Fiction memorized. That's gotta count for something.
Zip is a douche 😉
"In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war...fathers bury their sons."
This scene says that harder than any other war scene I can think of.
Many don’t even make it back, some even go into the street to be forgotten by their own country !
And yet, there's no father in this scene, just the mother, because of Hollywood sexism.
@@Lorrddtouch grass
@@Lorrddseriously get offline for a bit, jfc
As a Vietnam veteran, I did not think about the persons writing or typing the MIA/KIA notices. I salute my military sisters and brothers and their families. Semper Fi.
I am a Gulf War veteran. Generation X.
Thank you so much for everything YOUR generation did for mine.
We came home to parades,education benefits,housing benefits,and VA healthcare and pensions.
That is entirely because of you.
You wanted us to have all the things you deserved,but were shamefully denied.
You,are our fathers.
We,are your sons.
And our gratitude is only exceeded by our love,and our respect.
Thank you for your service.
Thank you for serving you country with honor.
I am a Viet Nam Era veteran. I was fortunate to have stayed stateside. Some of my buddies didn't make it back though, and the ones who did were forever changed. Glad you made it back. USMC 69' - 73' Semper Fi.
semper fi brother
Semper Fi Devil Dog
when this movie came out, I took my father to see it. His father, my grandfather, Lt. Colonel Walter John Paton of the 58th Artillery Division was at Omaha Beech with his men. Sadly, he went on a recon mission in March of 1945 and his jeep hit a land mine. Lt. Colonel Paton was the only educator from the town of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts to be killed during this war. So, in the early 1950's, the town built a new elementry school and named it after him. My family is honored.
I do wonder if your dear grandfather, god bless him, would have chuckled at the irony of going on a reconnaissance mission and his jeep then hitting a land mine. The old timers were like that, saw the humor in everything, even their own mortality.
My reply to you Mr Paton is 2 years late, but we all should be proud of your Grandfather and we salute your family's humility and graciousness.
Your Family paid a Precious price to help sustain our FREEDOM.
Thank You & may God bless the memory of your Sacrifice.
Wow I didn't know that. I live nearby. I'll pay a visit and thank him
My grandfather taught at the Beal School. Still there along with Paton Square and Paton Street just a few feet down the street from the school. And my mom's step brother , James Andersen,. My brothers namesake, Was shot down on the way back to England from a bombing run into the sea. Never found.
Makes me cry every time..that poor mother......
As an addendum to my first post, my heart hurts for all those women in the War Office during WW2, who had to type the condolence letters to all those mothers,fathers, sisters and brothers...must have been a gut wrenching job...
So did I..after serving in Iraq and Afcrapistan..I can feel the pain of the families that have lost a loved one in this worthless wars...future generations will laugh at us for doin so.
Guy ... "Salute" ... Thank You
And as We All Remember Today Sun. Dec 7th
... BC, USN 'Nam
.
It was worse - oh god, it was so much worse - in real life. She wouldn't have gotten them all at the same time. She would have gotten them... *one after the other*.
Me too Kiwi, I think all mothers of recently deceased soldiers should be flown to Washington DC on a plane and have breakfast with the President. A hundred or so at the time, load up the plane, and let the President say something nice to the ladies. Won't bring the sons back, but it will remind the President of the impact of his decisions.
I first read the lines from Lincoln's letter many years before Private Ryan came out. I was in Hawaii and went to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, The Punch Bowl. It is engraved on the marble wall above the Gardens of the Missing. It teared me up then and teared me up now. My wife's Grandmother had a flag with four blue stars like that, fortunately none of them turned Gold but Iwo Jima pushed that hard. My father served in the Navy in the Pacific and he came home. I was born in 1946. Thank you to all the service men and women who protect us. (PS, I served for 22 years US Army.)
Thank you for your service and your father’s service.
@@joannpritchett5076 I read it as an early teen. When in the movies as soon as I heard Mrs Bixby I choked and again here. And I had a Nam tour in MC. She reminds me of my previous wife's mom. They were farmer's too. She devoted her life to their lives.
Thanks for wearing khaki and glad you're safe.
Thank you ❤
I had a young soldier who got killed during desert storm. I wrote letters of condolence to his mother and wife. We had deployed out of Germany, so my wife and the rear detachment NCO and chaplain went out and visited my soldier's wife of one month of marriage... They also attended the funeral... My wife told me later... how the mother of my young soldier cried, and she cried, and she cried... the tears were so bitter she said. So now, when i watched this video... see that helpless mother sliding down in grief, almost falling in sickness of news anticipated but not enjoyed...i must cry bitter tears also, 24 years later... for a man who is still a newly wed and forever 22 years of age... and there is nothing we can do about it. Do we cry? I still do.
+johnny ray
That was a great post Johnny ray.
+Camera Noob Peace to you, my soldiers and I will forever know the price of freedom... Freedom is good, the cost is very precious...
johnny ray
amen brother
we are only the greatest country on Earth, thanks to warriors like you. thank you, and God thanks you, for the service you do
+Debbie collins I extend the love of Christ to you Debbie... but I am not a warrior... I am only simple person, blessed by God to be here. God bless you, but most of all God bless all soldiers who fight for right and not for power. Peace to you this Christmas and Holiday season!
Respect to that generation
Respect to ANY veteran of military service. They never know when the call may come for them to give their life for the country.
86sith poor brown people? You’re pathetic.
TO all veterans. Not just the Americans who think they're better than everyone else.
@86sith For banks are you stupid your like the most ignorant person I've heard in this video fucking bitch what are you talking about and killing brown people are you crazy.
FOR THE REPUBLIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I was a casualty clerk in Bien Hoa SVN. I kept track of the injured soldiers whose injuries only required short stays in the field hospitals. The man who sat in front of me typed the awful letters to the parents of the men killed in our division, and he typed many. For some reason, it means to me more today than when I was 21 years old. I was DEROS'd only a few weeks when a high school friend, in my same division, lost his life flying a chopper. I felt guilty about making it home, when he didn't. I've had 54 more years of life than he had, as well as many others, 58,000-plus. War is awful, and the memories and scars remain. I am grateful Jesus finally got my attention at age 26.
God bless you
It was Allah that got you home Jesus's fake
Thank you for sharing your experiences, and honoring those who were lost. I know it still haunts you today, and something we reflect on daily.
Thank you for your service. Condolences to you and countless others who lost loved ones and acquaintances doing the dirty work of humanity. Freedom isn’t free. But worth even the ultimate price, I pray.
Welcome home, brother.
This mother sitting on the floor always breaks my heart. It is very sad to know that so many mothers have gone and still go through this ...
Zip zen ac - you're spreading your antisemitic lies all over the place. Not a SINGLE American soldier has EVER fought in a war on behalf of Israel. The Israelis can fight their own wars very well on their own. On the contrary, GHW Bush sent HALF A MILLION AMERICAN TROOPS to liberate Kuwait and protect Saudi Arabia - and they still hate America. The lies you spread about Jews are your pathetic attempt to spread your antisemitic illness to others. Get help.
@Zip Zenac So did the pita bread not agree with your stomach or something? As a matter of fact, it is the USA that relies on Israeli HumInt, lots of it. This is one of the (many) reasons that the two countries cooperate so closely. Your assessment of the Israeli army's inability to stand up to a Western army indicate the level of incompetence allowed to a "liaison officer" like you. You are a disgrace to the Armed Forces. An Israeli commando I know who has studied the US Marines training found that the Israelis are in much better shape for real duty. The IAF demonstrated during the Gulf War of Bush Sr. that they could quickly do the job that the USAF was afraid to do, flying low to identify targets correctly instead of blowing up Saddam's dummy decoys. The Israelis, back then, actually found and fixed software bugs in the Patriot guidance systems, that the Americans couldn't deal with. Zenac, you make us laugh. And you can rest assured that the Israelis are very aware of the US CIA spies working in Israel. Especially those spying on Israel. You aren't revealing anything new here. Your assessment that Egypt is "the main threat" to Israel is laughable. The two countries cooperate very closely in dealing with ISIS in Sinai, Hamas in Gaza (both countries are blockading Gaza) and with other Jihadi enemies. I have spoken to MFO personnel. They are absolutely terrified of their Egyptian Bedouin neighbors and don't leave their compound except in convoy or by air. When they get to go visit Israel, they just LOVE it here - they can walk freely without fear, enjoy the sun, chat to people, have a beer - nothing like Egypt. "Huge cost to the US taxpayer"? Are you nuts? Firstly, the MFO is a small force and small change in Defense Dollars terms. Secondly, the US spends vastly more - in American Blood and Money - in other areas - e.g. protecting the Arab states from each other. Israel does it's own protecting itself. NO AMERICAN SOLDIER HAS EVER FOUGHT A WAR ON BEHALF OF ISRAEL. EVER. Zip Zenac, you have already established your credentials as a lunatic and Jew-hater. Your lying about Israel isn't convincing anyone, except the - what did you call them? - "gullible fools" who don't know anything. Try your lies somewhere else.
To think she thought it was going to be one of her sons, and it turns out to be 3 out of 4. Can’t imagine the overwhelming emotions.
Seeing her fall to the floor brakes my heart! Many other mothers going through the same today. May God give them the strength to carry one.
The moment when she face the door, take a deep breath, and start walking to the front door, thinking about which one of her boys was killed. Heartbreaking.
The boy is alive. We are gonna send somebody to find him. And we are going to get him the hell, out of there.
Yes sir, yes sir, yes sir
One of the best lines in cinema 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
*Yes, sir*
........ “and that’s the end of this discussion!”
Amen. Get his ass back home. Momma deserves it.
Never, ever forget the young American men who fell for the freedom of this continent. God bless the USA.🇺🇸
Not a single one of them were “suckers” or “losers”, and anyone who says otherwise doesn’t deserve to live in this wonderful country, let alone be a president of this country.
Remind GenZ, they seem to have forgotten.
My mum always said' Governments make the wars, the poor people have to fight them'. They liveth for evermore.... May the Lord bless our dear American friends. With deepest respect to all who fought against Nazi tyranny, 🙏 from Australia, and Britain 🇬🇧
@@rafezetter8003KARMA will get them horrible Generation they will pay one day all of them
As a Brit, we will never forget what your servicemen did to help us beat Nazi Germany.
Here in the Netherlands there are still people who know that we owe an incredible debt of honor to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and the families they left behind. I am one of them.
I want to visit the towns that the 101st Airborn liberated in WWII so I'll eventually get to see Eindhoven then on to Bastone, Belgium. 😊
Yeah if the Nazis won the Netherlands wouldn't have all that weed and prostitution. Thank God for America.
Same here.. thank you
Sadly there are many in my country who forget. And they mock those who made the ultimate sacrifice
@@troutwalker475yea but will they mock us to our face? Thats the ? There are a lot of cowards out there that dont respect
General Marshal was the very embodiment of what America and her citizens should aspire to be -powerful, decisive, intelligent and morally righteous. From what I've read about him he was easily one of the greatest wartime leaders in any country, at any given time in history.
+victor256in He was one of Pershing's favorites, along with George Pattton, his aide-de-Camp. One of his main contributions was washing out the old walrus Major Generals who commanded the peace-time Nation Guard Divisionson the basis of political pull.
Very true indeed!
Marshall was also one of the greatest peace time leaders. Marshall authored the "Marshall Plan" which guided the rebuilding of Europe after the war.
Young people today can learn so much by studying the past
@zip zenac - At this very moment, here in Israel, I'm listening to radio reports on the latest war that Islamic Hamas is waging on Israel. After negotiating a ceasefire with Israel, the Palestinian Jihadis in Gaza fired over 200 rockets into Israeli towns today in just two hours, hitting houses and sending the south of Israel into bomb shelters. A 19 year old Israeli was severely injured when a Palestinian anti-tank rocket was aimed at, and hit, a bus. The same irrational, crazed hatred of Jews that zip zen ac suffers from is the same illness that drives the death-glorifying jihadis of Gaza. And both of them base their sick ideologies on many, many lies about Jews. Zip Zenacs non-factual rantings here demonstrate this amply.
Fun fact: the general reciting the lincoln letter is the General Marshall after which the Marshall plan was named. For his work on this plan for the rebuilding of europe he is the only army general to receive the nobel peace prize!
GEN Marshall was THE most selfless officer who ever served this country, in my opinion.
Just a note for the Gold Star families out there. Your sacrifices are not unnoticed or forgotten. 🇺🇸
My family line includes a WW 2 Gold Star mother.
✝️🇺🇸✝️
The Gen Z lot all have forgotten, and what sacrifice is, believe me. Sadly the world is getting worse every day and some day there won’t be a generation left to give a damn anymore.
@@machineguncrally7020 I have made sure that my sons know a lot about our nation's sacrifices.
@@daveenyart I believe you
"Boy's alive, we are gonna somebody to find him, and we are gonna get him the hell outta there."
That's what real power does; it makes things right.
Scene still kicks my ass every time I see it.
My grandfather was on the Western front in WW1 from October 1914 until the end of the year. He lost 2 brothers during the war. A 3rd brother drowned in New Years Day 1919 when his troopship sunk within sight of his home harbour - the Iolaire disaster. The sacrifices some families made were incredible.
Can you imagine the Courage of all those American, British and Canadian troops who hit those beaches.
(I know there were other nationalities there too, I'm just using the Nations who had beaches assigned to them).
Heroes, one and all !
And of the germans who defended against them, under the greatest artillery barrage in history. And still we defended against the amerikan invasion
According to EA they were blue haired lesbians with robotic arms that stormed those beaches.
@Stinkmeaner again, you are a fool. Do you think that the American regime is any less violent and bloody? Do you not think that the Americans have killed Indians, gays, and blacks?
@@mikeggg5671 grow up kraut.
And of the German soldiers who defend their conquered nation from the onslaught, under a barrage of the likes unseen since the war fought by their fathers. n
The film was loosely based on the actual Niland brothers story from 1944, where 3 of 4 brothers were presumed killed in action (1 of them, thought dead, actually was later found to have survived in a Japanese POW camp and was later repatriated) and the sole surviving brother was extracted from service abroad and sent stateside. This was an all-too-real concern for the Armed Services; the 5 Sullivan brothers all served on the USS Juneau and all were lost when the ship was sunk in 1942. Four of five serving Borgstrom brothers in 1944 died within a few months in the war, and the family petitioned the military, which then removed and discharged the 5th brother and sent him home, and excluded the 6th brother (who was not yet of age) from military service. The Sole Survivor policy was formally implemented in 1948 and persists to this day
Ray Herbst also influenced by the Sullivan brothers. They refused to be put on separate ships, during the battle of Guadalcanal their ship sunk. All 5 died, it's one of the main reasons brothers are not allowed to serve in the same ship anymore.
Today the youngest brother can't get draft because of this.
I went to college with a guy whose great-grandfather was the youngest of five sons, the other four all died on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme
The Sole Survivor Policy is a very, very good idea
Ray - Interesting stuff. Thanks for the history lesson.
Thank you for this information Ray
My mother graduated high school in Kenmore, N.Y. in 1945, in the back of her yearbook, there were at least 2 dozen young men, classmates with their military photo that died in the war.
This always made my mother cry.
Sadly it didn't end with the war too many ended their own lives, drank themselves to death or lost ALL family ties because they were unable to re-integrate back to society.
That letter to Mrs Bixby from President Lincoln, some of the most beautiful words in the most tragic circumstance.
I immigrated to the US when I was 17 and this was the first movie I watched in a drama class at my high school. This scene stuck in my head for a long time. When I learned about WW2 and that 401,000 Americans had died fighting in it, this scene came to mind and gave me a strong realization that decades before I came, American mothers and fathers had paid for the freedoms and privileges that I came here to enjoy, with the lives of their children. It's sad that this history means so little to a lot of Americans today.
Well said! We are honored to call you a fellow American!
Welcome to OUR country
Welcome to America. If you dig a little deeper you will find many Americans who deeply understand and appreciate this history. Many of those people fly the flag.
Freedom isn't free.
And 1 in 10 was Eighth Air Force.
Of all the men America has produced, George Marshall is one of our finest.
Marshall graduated from VMI in 1901. I was privileged to do the same 75 years later. He was the example for us all to try, in all humility, to follow. Because that was his most defining characteristic.
If America produces another Marshall, when we need him, it means God is not done with us yet.
I agree. After FDR, General Marshall was the most important American of WW II. And service to America and the world did not end with the winning of the War. It continued in peace. As Secretary of State, General Marshall was responsible for the American aid known as the Marshall Plan that rebuilt war ravaged Europe and Japan for which Marshall received the Nobel Peace Prize. He also served as Secretary of Defense during the Korean War.
My father always said that about General Marshall. My father served in the South Pacific during WWII.
@@AK-76erI graduated from one of VMI's sister schools, Randolph-Macon Woman's College (gone but not forgotten), in the late 1960s.
@@vivianpowell1732 Marshall once said, in response to a question about overproduction of military supplies, that "this is the first time in US wartime history that the American GI has had more than he needs to do the job of fighting we are asking him to do, and if I am responsible for that, I have no problem with it."
People paid dearly for the Freedoms and lifestyle we enjoy today.......
And look at our society and government now -_-
Clader213 Better than the middle east...
Red Charge Which incidentally is also something that the people of your country paid for, by their tax dollars and lives.
*****" they sunk our ships at an alarming rate in 1942"...Yet we managed to overwhelm them by sending more and more merchant ships and perfecting our anti-submarine tactics. Now imagine if we weren't burdened by having to send so much aid across the atlantic to begin with.
" they were the bigger threat, Germany could have survived without Japan, but Japan"...Threat to whom? Not to the U.S. as you've already admitted. Let the european dictators slug it out. Europe would possibly have had one less dictator (stalin) with a Nazi-dominated mainland Europe instead of the soviet steamroller taking over all of eastern Europe. And our commerce and affairs would have shifted over to asia a lot sooner than it eventually did.
+Darth Belal Our politicians should realize the sacrifices of our armed forces and should not throw it all away by selling our country out by being politically correct.
Spend a little time learning about General Marshall and you'll find that he was an extraordinary man, and the portrayal of him in this film is awesome.
Anyone still watching this on Memorial Day 2024? I am.
Yes
Watched D-Day commemorations yesterday, every time I watch this movie, the scene of those men arriving at Mrs Ryan’s house gets to me. 😢
@@noirjacques3274 I did the same. As a purple heart Vietnam vet it may surprise some that the extra burden of how the folks at home would handle our demise was like a 400 lb boulder on our backs. We talked about it, even joked about it, but it was no laughing matter. We even drew up tombstones for each other. Some times we were offered body escort fro a KIA to their home. Never. I would rather stay in the field.
@@dbeaus 👍- I’m Australian, and when we have our annual ANZAC day commemorations, including marches and services at the memorial shrines across the country. On tv, we show these march of Veterans from many a conflict, we lost one of our last ANZAC’S (those who arrived at Gallipoli, Turkey in 1915) in recent years. My grandfather fought with the 4th Light Horse in Beersheba in 1917. I finally got myself to a Dawn Service, one of those commemorative services, a couple of years ago- so incredibly moving. Much respect to you and all veterans for your service.
🙏🇦🇺🇺🇸🇫🇷🇬🇧
Yes I do and I am Canadian it's a great movie and one of my favorites...this poor lady...I still tear for her and i'm a old man.
😭One of the reasons I will never betray the United States of America 🇺🇸 ❤
Many have died in my country and for my people 🇫🇷 they died for the idea of Liberty (precious value).
I said it before and I’ll say it again as long as live
GOD BLESS AMERICA 🇺🇸 ✝️
As an ex UK servicemen, I challenge anyone, literally anyone to watch this without a tear in your eye.
As a german, i watch it with tears of rage, esprcially considering the accuracy with ehich the amerikans shot german prisoners out of hand.
@Stinkmeaner younfucking idiot. Yes, soldiers fight. Do you think american soldiers did not do the same elsewhere??? When the soldier puts down his arms, he is be treated humanely. The law does not say only if you re not angry. You have no sense of soldierly honor. You.re a beast.
I was a soldier. You are a murderer.
Stinkmeaner damn right. After what they did to my fellow countrymen and brothers, I’d shoot them in the stomach and leave em
@Stinkmeaner wrong. I served in Northern Afghanistan.
Done. K now i can cry.
The way the mom became so unsteady and had to sit down knowing that her nightmare is about to come true always makes me tear up. No words need to be spoken tells you how powerful this scene is.
This scene makes me weep every time I see it. My parents had two sons. My older brother served in the Army during Korea and I served in the Marines during Vietnam Thankfully we both came home without a scratch. I cannot imagine how my mother would have felt if it had been one of us.
Write a book. There are fewer and fewer of you each year.
Thank you for your service 🇺🇲
America got dupped into a war by Roosevelt. Had he not cut japans oil thrrr was no need for war .... Unprovoked my ass.
Always remember that you're lucky to be alive. Spend as much time with your family as you can.
Semper fi
My father was in the Australian Army and was an intelligence officer attached to the US troops that retook New Britain. He was missing in action for 6 months and my mother suffered terribly. He had been captured and held prisoner in Rabaul where he was mistreated. His elder brother was in a protected occupation and his youngest brother was killed at Kokoda. When the US overwhelmed Rabaul and he was released, he was sent home and medically discharged. As the war in the Pacific came to a close and as he was a lawyer, he was sent to the Pacific War Crimes Tribunals where he was first a prosecutor and then a Judge Advocate. He was the Judge that ordered the hanging of four Japanese officers and NCOs who were his prison guards and Commandant. He told me that it did weigh on him heavily and I read the court transcripts where they are stored in our National Archives. He took his experiences to his grave.
Amazing story. Not to make light, but that sounds like a better story than Saving Private Ryan. Truth is truly stranger (and better) than fiction. I mean, what were the odds? I can see that you have excellent writing skills. Please get as much information as you can about your Fathers wartime odyssey. This story has to be told.You must be very proud of your Father. Men and Women who fought for our freedoms during WWII truly were "The Greatest Generation". I envy you.
Thankyou for sharing such an incredible story. So inspiring.
I wouldn't have been able to hold my composure at JAGing. Id say to hell with them pigs and string up high and make them suffer. I can't believe it weighed on him heavily to sentence them.
holy shit.... that's a crazy story. Dark and sad. He sounds like he was a tough, brave, and decent man. Thank you for sharing.
My mom said that my grandfather Vecencio Santos helped a Japanese soldier suffering from diarrhea here in Davao City during the war. Years later my grandfather died, their neighbors said there was a Japanese who was looking for him but since the family had transferred to a different location, they never met the Japanese again.
And this scene was repeated over and over again throughout the war. I can't thank them enough - THE GREATEST GENERATION. It reminds me to be grateful every day to the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice ... so I can be free. "Freedom is never free". It was paid with the precious blood of our heroes and martyrs.
The power of this opening is incredible. From the secretary who saw the names, and realized that three brothers had died. Without words, you could tell she was a mother herself by the horror on her face, all the way to General Marshall using the power of all four of his stars to declare that Ryan was alive, and they were going to get him.
Brilliant take. Thank you.
Three years late, but that's a phenomenal memory, too. That clerk seemed to be reviewing one of the letters, but also had enough memory to go "wait..." and check the rest of her stack, and then walk over to a stack of other letters to pull a third letter to confirm that, no, it's not just a coincidence, it's not just similar last names, but 3 losses from a single family.
The General perfectly cast. Flawless scene.
Superb acting. Unforgettable.
I've always thought the same. A perfect casting and an absolutely flawless performance.
Musician and veteran of theater and film Harve Presnell. His three minutes in this film pale in comparison to his career, but also might have been his best-known work.
@@clarkmorrison7243 he was in Fargo the movie and had a much bigger role there also as the father in law
"Stop playing with yourself, Hooper!" lol
Spielberg really nailed it with the government office and office ladies. Even the desks are right.
The sound of all those "word processors".
"The boy's alive. We are gonna send somebody to find him. And we are gonna get him the HELL...out of THERE." Chills. One of the best-delivered lines in any movie, ever.
People like you who say "chills" need to be sent to frontlines.
@@temperedglass1130 Not sure why you'd have a problem with that word, but it's your problem, so...
@@temperedglass1130 people like you are the people who need to be taught a good lesson.
@@temperedglass1130 I feel sorry for your misplaced confusion.
@@temperedglass1130 Chill bro
I don't know who she is, but the woman who played the 'Mother' - Mrs.Ryan, was absolutely brilliant. There needs to be no words spoken in that scene to understand the heartache in that moment. You don't even see her face when it all hits her.
I've seen the film a half a million times by now, and I'm still surprised that I cry watching that scene from the car, to her seeing that car, to her silently walking to the door, all the while processing the tragedy. To be overcome so forcefully that gravity seem all too much.
People always seem to focus on the quote from Lincoln used in the scene following, but nothing would motivate me more than to have seen that reaction, and to never want her to have that reaction ever again.
It's ironic I should find this clip the day before Nov11, a hundred year anniversary of the Great War. We pay tribute to those who have been lost in war, but we seem to forget the weight the families bared during that time.
Even now, returning wounded soldiers are recovering with the help of their families. And yet there are still some that have to endure their wounds alone.
We do a lot the 'honour' the service of those who serve, but I think we've diminished the effort to carry on by their families.
I wish more people remembered this scene rather than the tanks, and the gunfire. I think this scene says a lot more than people realize.
Beautifully described, could not agree more.
This scene is brilliantly filmed. Showing the beautiful farm, well-tended and isolated by a vast sea of crops. The mother’s entire adult life spent there working hard, raising and nurturing her children. She has created a fine warm home for her family. The four-starred flag hung on the farmhouse porch, a star for each son in the service. This is the heartland of America where so many mother’s saw their son’s off to war, where many - too many - would never return to that peaceful place.
I believe her name is Amanda Boxer from England.
Seeing her open the front door to walk outside & greet that car, despite her greatest fears of the news it brings, illustrates how bravery isn't only shown on the battlefield, but by those back home who sent their loved ones. I think we all understand Private Ryan's reluctance to be rescued after seeing his mother's gumption to face that approaching car.
The way she sinks as her legs give way……poignant to the T.
Fucking amazing.
When I read these stories of service and sacrifice, I am reminded that people of our generation (boomers. genz. snd others ) stand on the shoulders of those who served and sacrificed before we were born
I absolutely love that he stops looking at the letter and reads it by heart.
I still come back to this movie a lot. Read not long ago that Harve Presnell was asked to read the Bixby letter during his audition for the role of General Marshall. It only took him reading it once to memorize it, they picked him on the spot. He verbatim dropped the letter on the desk in the film because he didn't need to read it as he spoke. Adds even more power to how moving this is. Man was a legend. Emotions run deep in this scene.
This is the 4th time I've seen this, being a vet, this means something to me .
I am a Korean immigrant. came across the Mt. Soledad national veteans memorial while I was in San Diego for sightseeing to find a wall of plaques honoring American soldiers (mostly 18 to 20 old kids) killed in Korean War. I knew America fought against Soviet and chinese in Korean War, but it was shocking to actually see the faces of young americans(some teenagers) who died in defending korean people and freedom. I am grateful to USA, not perfect, but the greatest country on earth. I am surprised to find some people complaining, talking trash about this country. they don't have a clue how lucky and blessed to be an american. Thank God for America, and God bless America
Wish Master, you're a real jerk aren't you?
Gurn Blanstein yeah a ungrateful jerk thats what video games do to a generation. Snowflake beta male immature weasels.
philip c thank you for sharing that with us sir. We are so very blessed here in the USA. Some people just don’t care to understand the sacrifice made by many to make it what it is today. Peace brother🇺🇸
philip c thank you
Mr C
Thank you
As a veteran and fellow American .
This sequence is so well done. Chokes me up every time. My maternal grandmother was one of these mothers...
One of the most powerful and heart wrenching scenes in a movie ever !
Absolutely!
If you took the establishing shot of the farm, the shot of the mother doing dishes, and added just like, one camera sequence sort of touring the empty house for about a minute, catching a glimpse of a few subtle clues about the boys that had lived there, then ended with the scene at the doorstep, with no words at all, you would have an award winning short film.
The banner with four stars in window pretty much said it all quite succinctly. Especially when one realizes that three will soon be gold.
@@spikespa5208 And th photograph of all four of them on the book case, to the right of the front door.
The window with the banner with 4 stars means that 4 people in her family are serving.
We never see the mom's face and yet her anguish is the most powerful moment in the clip, when she sees the priest getting out of the car and she can no longer even stay on her feet. Stunning filmmaking.
She was "every" mom who had to face that situation. Brilliantly acted and filmed.
The look of her face at 3: 57. Probably didn't get many folks driving out the their somewhat remote farm. She knew. Mothers always know.
I cannot watch this scene without getting emotional. I have never had the honor of serving, so I can only say THANK YOU to much braver, better men than I.
Impeccable performances by character actors. This scene is perfect in temperament and effect. Perfection
“Yours sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln.”
That line always gives me chills
No. Doubt. Took my breath away first time I saw the movie
General Marshall was one of our greatest generals.
Thanks for posting. I am specially moved when I noticed that the General Marshall starts by reading from the letter - and then recites the rest of the letter from memory.
This is the sort of men who used to lead our military, and this nation.
No, these are just actors.
@@seoulglo1999 don't you just love trolls who suck the sentiment and meaning out of everything? Like you for example. Your life is so empty, you feel you must spread your peculiar species of self loathing to everyone else.
The real hero was the clerk.. Thank GOD she remembered the work she did!! MAY GOD BLESS HER AND THE FAMILIES TOO... MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA....
You know this is fiction, right?
@@jeffclark5268 got to love American propaganda. They really swallow it whole.
“The boy is alive. We are gonna to send somebody to find him. And we are going to get him the hell out of there.”
I love the emphasis placed on there.
Powerful scene. Something that just occurred to me was first, that fatherly general Marshall had a pair of 'lowly' bird colones for advisers. BUT the old colonel who advocated NOT sending a rescue mission was right. Sending them into that situation would get them all killed. That colonel was wearing a French fourragere, a silver star and a DSM. With that silver hair, it was likely from WW1 service in France. They are all combat vets, but although old man Marshall gave a great scene, the WW1 combat bad-ass gave a truthful and honest assessment of what would happen.
KT Simpson Agreed, super-powerful scene The typing with the voice-overs for snippets of the letters, the clerk discovering the letters, mrs ryan collapsing on the porch... "The old colonel" is Dale Dye, USMC capt, Nam vet. He runs training camps for actors so they can realistically portray grunts. He was also in PLATOON. The camp for RYAN was like a week, they lived in the field, weapons training, patrol, etc. Damon was not there to add to the harsh attitude they had toward him in the movie.
I didn't even recognize him! He was in a few Platoon scenes as the Company Commander and also as the door gunner on a UH1. Dale must have enlisted or commissioned in the 50s. So I would imagine that he served with a TON of WW2 vets and would be the best person to get the details of the uniforms right. Dale's the man.
KT Simpson He also played Col. Sink in Band of Brothers.
another awesome thing was when Marshall was READING Lincoln's letter to mrs Bixby(letter is real), as gets to the end u notice he's not reading it, he's RECITING it, he memorized the letter..."and we are going to get him the hell out of there." Spielberg is a master.
Totally agree. Great movie. They made some parts so powerful, without the special effects or anything fancy.
Now THIS is how you write and shoot a scene… must have watched it a 100 times, gets me every time!
This scene, and this movie, makes me proud to have worn a uniform for 8 years.
Thank you for your service, my fellow American!
Thank you for your service.
Thank you from a grateful nation.
thanks for your service from Canada!
Thank you for your service
Greatest film ever made - thanks to scenes like this. Wouldn’t even call it acting it was that special
A stunning set of scenes in every way - the mother who never says a word - the clerk who notices something amiss - the general who has Lincoln's words committed to memory and who ignores the advice he is given to do the right thing. All in 8 minutes.
i still remember the day when i saw the movie in pune(india) in 2008. i had to stand in q that was of great length.after around 1.30 hrs i got the ticket of late night show.i was just 20 and when the movie started i was not there at all.for the first time in my life i experienced someting which cannot be explained in one line.i could not sleep that night.i was doing mba.i bunked the class next day and watched it again.spr became the favourite of my list.thegreatness of spielberg is self evident.kaminski can show his true colors with spielberg.kahn is incomparable among others.what a great collaboration.great people.
Wait u said queue, that in 2008 where it released in pune, for a movie released in 1998
that's one of the most heartbreaking letters that Marshall has memorised.
"that boy's alive..we are gonna send somebody to find him..and we're gonna get him the hell outta there"...Great stuff.
One of the most spectacular scenes in the history of film. Both in the score, the emotional effect, the dialogue and spectacularly the selection of the actor to play General George C Marshall to read Lincoln’s words. Never be a film to surpass this scene.
I've watched this movie dozens of times, and I shed tears every time I see the mother collapse on her porch.
I cried a lot when i rewatched this cause i realized the picture of all brothers together on the shelf
Visual storytelling at its best ladies and gentlemen
They don't make movies like this anymore
Seeing Mrs. Ryan collapse on her porch is all I needed to convince me that her son needs to come home.
I worked with a Navy Chaplain who had to make visits like that (mid 80’s). Their policy was to send a duty officer with the Chaplain, whoever drew the short straw. They would travel in separate vehicles. After delivering the news, the duty officer would leave, and the Chaplain would then comfort the family. This was so that the bearer of the news would not be the same one to be offering condolences and compassion.
I worked for a couple of Army Chaplains. It was a fairly easy assignment for an enlisted soldier.
So many great actors in this film. Especially overlooked character actors like Dale Dye, Harve Presnell, and a then at the the time character actor who would blow up big time Bryan Cranston.
Jay Reffner character actors like Dale Dye???? Are you fuckin high??? Dale Dye was an officer when Oliver Stone was in Vietnam, when he made Platoon Dye trained the actors in Thailand and Stone cast him in that movie, a character actor.. hilarious.
Definition of a character actor is someone, not the lead, who plays an important or significant supporting role. Dale Dye (SPR, BoB, etc, etc) fits that definition, but,...you knew that.
One of the most profound and moving scenes in all of cinema. Makes me tear up everytime.
This scene of the bearing a horrible message to a parent was repeated several hundred thousand times during the war. Can't watch without tearing up.
Happy Memorial Day. Let us remember and honor those who painfully gave their blood upon the altar of freedom and liberty.
The country is a dump now.
I bet that clerk is a mother too
She had the look of devastation only a mother can
You know she is /was. So were many of the clerk typists in the scene-wives-girlfriends daughters
She reminds me of my grandmother.
Best "war like" movie ever released! Thank you all for those who has served in the military. Thank you grand dad!
Can we all take a moment to appreciate the sheer writing skill in that letter? It's so beautifully written after all.
That part where the mom stops with the dishes and goes to the porch gets me every time.
Thank you to all the brave men in history who fought for democracy and what was right and just. Because of your sacrifice, I get to sit at home in front of my computer watching this on youtube.
Who would have guessed that the most heartfelt and heart-wrenching 5 minutes in the movie would be a scene with 4 supposed military hardasses.
Damn, Harve Presnell was a fine actor! The way he read and quoted that letter brings me to tears every time!! GOD BLESS OUR REPUBLIC!!!
the fact there is zero dialog between the clerk and the junior officer and then between the JO and his Captain is amazing.
I work in a nursing home and currently the amount of WW2 vets is almost gone. I currently have in my care one, in his 90s. He only moved in bc of Covid rules that kept him from visiting his wife. It breaks my heart bc he doesn't call for help with his call button bc he doesnt want to bother us since we are running short staffed( we always have people quiting/ our state legal limit says 1 caregiver can attend 15 people). I always check on him even though he doesn't call for help. I talk to him about his life when I provide care bc someone has to make him feel like a human.
Madeline you’re an amazing person. You have such a good heart. I’m a ship captain. I hope I have the spare time to volunteer when things get back to normal when I’m in rotation. God love you.
Abraham Lincoln= word wizard
Though evidence now available suggests it was mostly written by his two personal secretaries for his review and approval. His first inaugural, for example, was reviewed by cabinet members. But his second inaugural was entirely his.
That was common back then.
@@patrickfarrell5887 Not now. = )
Absolutely
You mean bloodthirsty ambitious bullshitter.
As much as I love a "bridge too far"..." Guns navarone" etc.....this and Band of Brothers have set a standard of war movie that will be so incredibly tough to top. Thoughts for the mothers and fathers...sisters and brothers that sacrificed their personal greatest generation members🇺🇲🇬🇧🇭🇲🇨🇦🇲🇫
I feel so sorry for that mother. Knowing that you've lost 3 of your own kids in the war at the snap of a finger. When she saw the car approaching her house, she knew something was wrong.
She was told 3 but one of them survived, it was the one that was in the pacific
@@SpeedyWings2323 No, that was one of the Niland brothers, whose true story was the basis for SPR. The Niland brother in the Pacific was thought to have been killed, but was in fact a POW of the Japanese and was repatriated at the end of the war. The Ryan brothers are fictional, in the book and movie, so three of them fictionally die. As for the thought to be only surviving Niland brother, I'm not sure, but I believe they just ordered him removed from his unit and sent State-side. I don't think they sent a squad of Rangers behind enemy limes to extract him.
I’m just now realizing that Marshall stops reading from the page before he finishes. He has the letter memorized and even keeping it in his desk shows how important it is to him
It looks like he keeps it at a certain page in his personal Bible, perhaps one specifically about wartime.
My mom was a WW2's soldier's wife, a Vietnam War's soldier's mother, and I served in the Gulf War, and we all made it back, but the thought of the possibility her receiving any of those letters is heart wrenching.
Honest to God, this movie is something else. For a WW2 film to have A-list actors and for the film to not once feel like something that was created by Hollywood takes a lot of skill. The level of achievement in storytelling that Spielberg reached in this film is of a different realm in cinema. Simply cannot be duplicated. It's no wonder Veterans of this war felt the Normandy scene to the core. Ever scene feels like an extraction out of World History. A lot of that is credited to Janusz Kaminski's brilliant cinematography.