Question: Why was CPL Upham treated so badly by the other soldiers? they were only Privates (E-2), but a Corporal is E-4. They should've seen him as a superior and respected him, shouldn't they?
Tailkinker
21st Jan 2013
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
20th Mar 2009
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Question: In the last battle, Upham is seen running around with cartridges of ammunition. Why don't the people who need it just have it close by, instead of having him carry it all over the place?
Answer: Because before a battle gets underway you can never predict exactly who's going to need it. You could split the available ammunition equally between all the soldiers, but then you could easily find yourself in a situation where the enemy attack from a particular angle, so only certain soldiers can shoot back. End result, those soldiers run out of ammunition while other soldiers still have a full load that they can't use. Far better to give each soldier a moderate amount, but keep a quantity in reserve along with a soldier assigned to resupply those who run low.
11th Mar 2007
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Question: When the higgins boats were blown to bits, before we see Jackson in the front of the boat, when the ramps go down, the whole people in screen were shot, also where Jackson was, but later Jackson is there with Miller at the seawall, how could this be?
Answer: Jackson could simply have been slightly wounded, or even missed completely, and was simply knocked to the floor by those around him who were hit. He could even have just hit the deck when the guns opened up.
I'm pretty sure you can see Jackson fall over right before the shot of the MG-42 firing. Although I may be incorrect because a lot of people seem to have his same hair style and color.
4th Aug 2006
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Question: At Omaha Beach, there were large metal things strewn along the water line (they sort of resembled gigantic jacks). First, what are those? Second, were they at the actual Omaha Beach on D-Day?
Answer: Nicknamed "Czech Hedgehogs", they're designed to damage incoming landing craft or to stop tanks making their way up the beach. They were indeed present on D-Day.
15th Aug 2005
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Question: Jackson, the sniper of Miller's crew, states that if he was in a mile of Adolf Hitler, he would kill him. So, as they were driven to the beach, why didn't Jackson and other snipers try to pick off the the German guys who were firing the at the boats as the Americans left them?
Answer: Sniping needs stability - the movement of the waves under the boat would disrupt their aim so badly that they wouldn't have much hope of hitting anything.
Answer: Also, the machine gunners were under heavy cover. No one had a good shot at them.
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Chosen answer: Upham isn't a soldier, he's a clerk, recruited from another unit because of his linguistic skills. His rank is irrelevant; untested in combat, he would not receive any respect from the other soldiers until he proved himself worthy of it.
Tailkinker ★