Posted by
The Patriot on Saturday, May 23, 2009 7:40:59 PM
As has been my Memorial Day tradition these last few years, I just finished watching Saving Private Ryan. Though the film is nearly three hours long, the heart of the message is contained in a very few minutes at the end. After all three of his brothers are killed in combat in World War II, General of the Army George C. Marshall sends a contingent of Rangers to locate Private James Ryan and bring him home.
Though questions are raised about sacrificing more lives to save one, the Ranger commander, CPT John Miller, does his duty and leads the Rangers forward. The Rangers are confronted with their fears and with many of the moral uncertainties of war, and suffer the loss of many of their team by the time they find Ryan. But the message comes in the climactic final battle. With almost all of the Rangers now lost, CPT Miller is mortally wounded. As he lies dying, he pulls Ryan near, and utters this command: "Earn this. Earn it."
Earn it. We flash forward to an elderly Ryan, who has returned with his family to Normandy. As he stands over the grave of CPT Miller, he asks his wife to tell him that he's led a good life, that he's a good man. We should ask ourselves this question on Memorial Day. Have we earned it, the life we have? Have we earned the sacrifice of so many who came before, and do we continue to earn the sacrifice of those who protect us today? We live the lives we lead only because of the sacrifice of the CPT Millers out there, past and present. We are all Private Ryan. Earn it.