Essay About Official Record Of The 1St Infantry Division And War Veterans

Saving Private Ryan
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I can see that Speilberg, one of my favorite directors has consulted war veterans in the process of making this film. We can clearly see that the historical accuracy is correct up to the guns used the soldiers. Veterans accounts tell us that Normandy was like a living hell. Bullets flying everywhere, soldiers accidentally killing members of their own faction, and as the saying “Bloody Omaha” implies, there was a lot of bloodshed. The official record of the 1st infantry division reads:”within 10 minutes of the ramps being lowered, [the leading] company had become inert, leaderless and almost incapable of action. Every officer and sergeant had been killed or wounded It had become a struggle for survival and rescue”. It was so realistic that a German War Veteran dropped out of the cast since he could not relive the horror of the battle. The first 20 minutes of the film also introduces us the cast. Including Private Ryan, going back to the war memorial, and lamenting over the loss of the man who saved him, and the other brave comrades in arms. During the flashback itself, we get to know Captain Miller, a brave leader leading his soldiers to certain death, but still making through it. We also see the rest of the cast as brave warriors fighting along side their British and American allies hopelessly trying to change the tide of war, to favor the allies. By depicting the movie so graphically, Speilberg is not trying to make our brave veterans relive the battle, but show todays generation, one that does not know fear, sacrifice, or bravery (who think that of an ipod or cell phone is a needed item), what the battle was really like.