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Saving Private Ryan Ethics

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Saving Private Ryan is a film based during World War II. The main characters of the movie are elite soldiers out of the 2nd ranger battalion. The soldiers of the 2nd ranger Battalion were part of the initial invasion and were vital in the taking of Normandy beach. This was just the beginning for this group of soldiers destined for a mission save Private James Francis Ryan. The major ethical debate started in the United States Chief of Staff’s office following the discovery that a mother would receive three telegrams on the same day informing her that three of her four sons had died in combat. In the office the group weighs the decision to pull out her only surviving son from behind enemy lines and send him home safely. Private Ryan was in the 101 airborne division and missed there drop deep behind enemy lines and there exact whereabouts are unknown. The group is split between risking men’s lives to save one man, presuming he is alive, and a sense of responsibility to the mother of the boys to bring her one son back safely. The decision is made to save Private Ryan after the Chief of Staff reads a letter by Abraham Lincoln. "Dear Madam: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so …show more content…

When they finally find Private Ryan he and a small group of patched together soldiers are defending one of the last working bridges from the Germans. When Private Ryan refuses to leave his post because he doesn’t want to abandon the only family he has left, the ranger squad relates to his dilemma and stays to fight with him. A lot of the squad parishes in defending Private Ryan’s mission including Capt. James

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