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Saving Private Todd

Terrie Todd

I finally took the plunge and rented Saving Private Ryan. You’ve no doubt heard the premise of this movie: Three sons from the same family are killed in action in World War II. A fourth son is still in battle, and the commander general issues orders that this boy, Private James Ryan, be found and sent home before he, too, becomes a casualty. Six men are sent on this mission.

Neither the captain nor his men are convinced that one private’s life is worth risking the lives of the others, but they do their duty and begin their search. I’d been warned about the blood and gore in this all-too-real portrayal of war. Some veterans have said Hollywood went overboard, that it wasn’t that bad. Others have said that’s just how it was and the world needs to know. I guess it depends where you were, and when. I averted my eyes and hummed during a couple of scenes, but for the most part I stayed with it and allowed myself to imagine the feelings of the men in the story.

Four of the original six men lose their lives on this mission. The captain’s dying words to Private Ryan are simple but emphatic: “Earn this!” I thought: What an unfair load to lay on someone! He didn’t ask to be rescued!

The scene changes to modern day, and we see the elderly Ryan at the captain’s gravesite. With his family waiting in the background, we see the agony on his face as he explains how he tried to live his life as best he could. “I hope it was enough”, he says. I wonder: How could it ever be enough? He turns to his wife and pleads with her, “Tell me I’m a good man.”

I, too, know what it is to have someone die for me. But in my case, I have never been told, “Earn this.” Thank God, because I never could. Jesus died for me out of absolute love and grace, precisely because He knew I was helpless to ever earn it.

Terrie Todd is a freelance writer from Portage La Prairie, Man.

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Last modified June 5, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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