Saving Private Ryan Reflection

The most basic instinct of all life on earth is self preservation. No life form on earth wants to put their own life on the line in order to protect others except one, human beings. The thing that makes humans different than all other life on earth is the fact that we will willing risk our own life in order to protect others we care for. This happens very often in war. It is typical for people to say a soldier risks his life for his country and everyone back home. It is harder to risk your own life when the people you are risking it for are not even present. This is why people consider soldiers to be heroes. In reality, the soldiers on the front line are risking their life for their comrades that are fighting right next to them at that very moment. There is evidence of this in Saving Private Ryan when Captain Miller is on the Normandy beach and he drags the body of a soldier to safety even though he exposes himself to machine gun fire while doing this. This act goes against all instinct, but he did it anyway because he is fighting for his comrades. An example of a soldier not doing this is near the end of the film when Upham is outside of the room where Mellish is being killed, but he is too scared to go save him because he instinct of self preservation is too strong. War is a terrible thing and it asks people to do very hard things. Only soldiers put in that situation would know the true feeling of tension between self preservation and obeying orders.