Cpl Upham

The movie Saving Private Ryan ends with Captain Miller's squadron finding Pvt Ryan in a bombed out French Village on the Merderet River. Ryan refuses to go home. Miller and his squad decide to remain and hope to defend the bridge with the ~20 men with Ryan.

The men with Miller are
Pvt Mellish, a jew.
Pvt Reiben, a brookliner
Pvt Jackson, a sniper
Cpl Upham, a translator
Sgt Horvath, the Captain's NCO.

At the very end of the movie, the bridge comes under attack from a large group of German infantry. Pvt Mellish and one soldier are manning a machine gun on one flank, and Pvt Jackson and another soldier are in a bell tower with another .30 cal machine gun. Cpl Upham is given the job of "johnny on the spot" -as Mellish puts it- with the ammo.

At one point, Mellish and his partner run out of ammo. Mellish's M1 Garand jams. He cries out for ammo. Upham grabs some and starts heading towards him. Meanwhile, Mellish hears footsteps outside the room he's in. His partner fires at the wall. There is a thump, and a pool of blood. Then more small arms fire. Mellish's partner is hit in the throat, and falls over gasping for breath, dying. A German soldier comes in. Mellish and the soldier start fighting each other hand to hand.

Meanwhile, Upham is on the stairs approaching Mellish and can hear all the commotion, but he's cowering, crying.

The soldier overpowers Mellish and stabs him, killing him. He then comes down the stairs, looks at Upham (who has his hands up and is sobbing) with contempt, passes him and rejoins the fighting in the streets. Upham collapses in grief.

This scene has always angered me. I get upset with Upham, not barging in, killing the German and saving Mellish's life. He cowers like a wimp on the stairs. I tell myself, that I'd've at least killed the German.

But then would I have? How can I know what a battle is like? How can I know that I would not be overcome by fear and grief had I been in the same situation? I can't help but feel angry at Upham, but I can't blame him either. War is hell, and no one would know how they'll really act when thrown in such a situation. How am I to know if I would overcome my own natural fear of death and fight?

I will not ever know until I face that moment.

In other news I don't like any of the candidates so far, so I'm gonna vote Stephen Colbert for President.

"I stand by this man [George W. Bush] because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers, and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo-ops in the world." -Stephen Colbert

Road Traffic Control

"565 Papa Echo, come to a full stop at the intersection"
"Full stop at intersection, 5 Papa Echo"
"You are cleared to make a right turn on to Pine Hill"
"Cleared to turn, 5 Papa Echo"

I'd love it if we had this.

But instead, I sit at that intersection for 5 minutes with on coming traffic. And the moron behind me starts honking.

J Kuhl Signing Off