Is Saving Private Ryan Worth the Loss?
Being an officer in the United States Army, one is presented ethical dilemmas very often. For example, in the film Saving Private Ryan (1998), General Marshall makes the decision to send Captain Miller and a squad of men to save one private from deep behind enemy territory. Some would argue that it is not worth sending these men to save him. Others would argue that no one family should lose all of its sons to war. Saving Private Ryan was the right decision because a leader has to regard the Army as a group of individuals, not as a pool of resources.
General George C. Marshall is presented the dilemma of searching out Private Ryan or allowing him to fight in the war and potentially dying. For military leaders, this decision is very regular and made often in war. This was a special situation because Pvt Ryan had three other brothers that also signed up to fight in WWII and all died. With all of his brothers dead, Mrs. Ryan was to receive a letter stating that three of her sons had died. If the last brother, James Ryan, dies then the mother would lose all of her children. General Marshall takes a couple minutes in the movie to think about if he should risk the lives of more men to find Pvt Ryan. He decides that Ryan is worth it and orders a squad of men to be sent to find and bring Ryan home.
Captain Miller and his
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This is a very strong point that the Soldier makes. But he is only looking at himself and Ryan as a resource that is worth a certain amount to the Army. If you look at each individual as a resource than the decision to save Ryan is very difficult because it would cost a lot of resources to find a resource and then take that resource out of battle in the end. This ideology leads to treating Soldiers not as humans and it is a slippery slope of unethical or moral