War is a dirty business

Rating: 9/10 (5 November 1999)

Indeed.
We've glimpsed at the hell our parents and grandparents had experienced. Only that we are able to turn it off, they could not.
Listen to the letter Gen. Marshall reads. Throughout the movie, I was reminded how weak and fruitless any words of consolation to the overwhelming loss and grief Mrs. Ryan, however fictional, or historically inaccurate she may have been, must have felt upon her notification of her sons' deaths. Watching helplessly these men die, many not even having the opportunity to make peace with themselves, was a sobering and harsh statement that we should never forget the sacrifice they willingly made.
I may have spent a few sleepless nights replaying scenes where people die needlessly, yet it would be borderline slap in the face to even suggest that I can begin to understand what these men have gone through, and their loved ones as well.
We should allow ourselves to be easy to forgive. But we should never, never allow ourselves to forget the ultimate gift our parents and grandparents gave us, to be always thankful that we have the happiness and comfort of freedom that we sometimes take for granted.