Editing Saving Private Ryan (section)

===Patriotism===
Leading into the early 21st century, there was renewed focus in America on glorifying the generation that had fought in WWII, depicted in films such as ''Saving Private Ryan'' and ''The Thin Red Line'', the miniseries ''[[Band of Brothers (miniseries)|Band of Brothers]]'' (2001), books such as ''[[The Greatest Generation (book)|The Greatest Generation]]'' (1998), and construction of a [[World War II Memorial]] in Washington, D.C.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="ThemesBBC"/><ref name="NYTimesSumRevSep98"/><ref name="ReviewTimeSchickelPage1"/>{{sfn|Sokołowska-Paryż|2022|p=4}}{{sfn|Auster|2002|p=99}}}} Many publications believed this resurgence of interest in the war to be a response to decades of American cynicism toward the nation's [[Vietnam syndrome|failure in the Vietnam War]] (1955–1975), and anticlimactic victories in the [[Cold War|Cold]] and [[Gulf War]]s that resulted in little diplomatic success or celebration.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="ThemesBBC"/><ref name="NYTimesSumRevSep98"/><ref name="ReviewTimeSchickelPage1"/>{{sfn|Sokołowska-Paryż|2022|p=4}}{{sfn|Auster|2002|p=99}}{{sfn|Auster|2002|p=100}}}}

Many films about the Vietnam War depicted its American combatants as self-hating, "deeply troubled, or even psychotic," offered little respect, and portrayed the conflict itself as one mired in dread, anxiety, and general negativity.<ref name="ThemesBBC"/><ref name="NYTimesSumRevSep98"/><ref name="ReviewTimeSchickelPage1"/>{{sfn|Sokołowska-Paryż|2022|p=4}} Literature professor Marzena Sokołowska-Paryż said the worship of WWII as "the last Good War" and its veterans as "the [[Greatest Generation|greatest generation]]" represented a "therapeutic [form of] patriotism" designed to rehabilitate the modern image of combatants as the enduring legacy of WWII soldiers and the core American national identity while forgetting any lingering guilt over the Vietnam War.{{sfn|Sokołowska-Paryż|2022|p=4}}<ref name="NYTimesSumRevSep98"/> Film scholar Albert Auster described this reappraisal as a reversal of attitudes up to the early 1990s where historical wars, including WWII, were not beyond criticism and, particularly in response to the Vietnam War, literary critics aimed to undo the impression of WWII as the "Good War".{{sfn|Auster|2002|p=99}} ''Saving Private Ryan'' is American-centric, beginning and ending with an image of the nation's flag fluttering in the wind, a desaturated image suggesting a nostalgic image of "the deep pride we once felt in our flag".<ref name="ReviewTimeSchickelPage1"/><ref name="ThemesAtlantic"/><ref name="Channel4"/> Stephen Holden described it as "a wholehearted celebration of American pluck and virtue and honor".<ref name="NYTimesSumRevSep98"/>

Holden and Ebert disagreed with the view of some critics that ''Saving Private Ryan''{{'}}s "harrowing" and realistic combat scenes were a [[anti-war movement|statement against war]]. They wrote that it accepts war as a necessity and portrays its main characters not as symbols, but as real people trying to kill the enemy without getting themselves killed.<ref name="NYTimesSumRevSep98"/><ref name="Privatespielberg"/><ref name="EbertHanks"/>{{sfn|Bodnar|2001|p=805}} The scenes of the elderly Ryan visiting Miller's grave with his family received some criticism.<ref name="NYTimesSumRevSep98"/><ref name="ThemesAtlantic"/> Author [[John Biguenet]] queried how such a "savage and unsentimental film" could conclude with a scene so sentimentalized. Spielberg said in making the film he was meant to "wave the flag and be patriotic," but that the reality of his father's experiences made him want to also convey the harsh reality.<ref name="ThemesAtlantic"/> The Omaha Beach landing establishes the distance between the commanders safe at home who order Ryan be rescued, and the soldiers endangered in doing so.<ref name="ReviewEbert"/>{{sfn|Bodnar|2001|p=806}} It is a sentimental mission intended to spare one family the grief of losing all of its sons, but Miller refers to it as a public relations scheme designed to boost civilian morale.<ref name="EbertHanks"/><ref name="ThemesAtlantic"/> General Marshall quotes a letter by Abraham Lincoln to a similarly affected family, but where Lincoln's letter expresses sentiment and patriotic sacrifice to the mother, it is not sentimental nor does it claim that her grief is greater than any other mother who lost her child at war.{{sfn|Bodnar|2001|p=812}}<ref name="ThemesAtlantic"/> Biguenet said Marshall, in comparison, confuses sentimentality for morality.<ref name="ThemesAtlantic"/>

Despite the patriotic American imagery, the characters of ''Saving Private Ryan'' do not discuss their home country or protecting democracy from [[fascism]]. The soldiers are only concerned with returning home to their loved ones. Miller's men openly state that they do not care about Ryan, but Miller says that he will go into metaphorical Hell to save him, if it means Miller can return to his wife. The soldiers actively fighting are not sentimental about their mission.<ref name="ThemesAtlantic"/>

Turan and Biguenet said ''Saving Private Ryan'' "feels like an official act of atonement" for modern generations failing to acknowledge the "courage and sacrifice" of WWII soldiers. When Miller tells Ryan to "earn this," he is effectively speaking about the debt owed to veterans who made "the ultimate sacrifice" for their country.<ref name="NYTimesSumRevSep98"/><ref name="ThemesAtlantic"/><ref name="LATimes2018Spielberg"/>{{sfn|Bodnar|2001|p=815}} Biguenet called this a "terrible, impossible order", a moral burden that Ryan will carry until his own death because there is no way to compensate the high price paid by Miller's men. Spielberg suggested the answer was in the living paying homage to the fallen soldiers and the freedom for which they fought.<ref name="ThemesAtlantic"/> History professor John Bodnar described the image of the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial as depicting a national unity with row after row of white grave markers, serving as a permanent reminder "to other nations of the sacrifices made by the United States".{{sfn|Bodnar|2001|p=806}}