Earn This

In honor of the anniversaries of the invasion of Normandy (6th of June) and the Battle of Midway this week (4-7 June), I re-watched the movie:  “Saving Private Ryan” which came out in 1998.  The movie won five academy awards and was considered one of the best movies of that year (although it did not win Best Picture).  I would say it is one of the finest war movies ever made.
If you haven’t seen the movie, the first twenty minutes (the landing at Normandy) and the ending are both classic moments in movie history.  The basic theme is that so many have given so much (their limbs and lives) to keep America free, that we “owe it to them” (those who’ve sacrificed) to live our lives as best we can, being as honorable as we can, and with all of the fullness we can.  The horror and the (sometimes) pointlessness of war was also a big theme of the movie, but in the whole, it comes back to honoring those who’ve given so much for us to be free.  The movie title comes from a family of four sons, who all join the military to fight in World War II.  Three of the brothers all die in one week and the generals in Washington decide it would be tragic if the fourth son (who is dropped with his airborne unit the night before the landing on the beaches of Normandy) is also killed in action.  So a squad of soldiers (led by a Captain played by Tom Hanks), must try to find the last brother (Private Ryan) and return him safely to his family back home.
This is a terrific movie (although it is very graphic in depicting the violence of war) and I give it a strong Highly Recommended.
For those who don’t know this, the Battle of Midway was fought between the 4th and 7th of June in 1942.  This was six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  While the war in the Pacific would go on for several years, Midway marked the turning point of the war as the Imperial Navy lost four aircraft carriers to only one for the US.  Between this and the loss of some of its best naval pilots and maintenance crews, Japan suffered a defeat from which it would never be able to recover.  As someone interested in military history, I also find it interesting that the Battle of the Coral Sea, which happened in the preceding month (May ’42) was the first Japanese setback in the Pacific;  it more or less evened the number of aircraft available for both sides in the coming Battle of Midway;  and, it marked the first time two opposing naval forces engaged in major combat operations without the main combat vessels ever sighting the enemy.  Aircraft had changed the nature of sea warfare.  Of course, tens of thousands would have to die on both sides before the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima would end the war in the Pacific.
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On This Day In:
2022	Just Chill Dude…
2021	Don’t Let The Violent Take It From Us
	Scratch Me
2020	Or Frightens Us
2019	The Best Gifts
2018	Sweep!!!
	We Must Be Living In TRULY Historic Times
2017	The Best?
2016	Timely Opinions On “The Donald”
	Even Allowing For Coincidence
2015	First Things First
2014	Without The Other
2013	Earn This
	Seeking A View
2012	Stumblin’ Along My Way
	We’re Proud Of You, Jr!
	Union Card
	Two Philosophies
2011	Simply Unpredictable