Saving Private Ryan: Private Stanley Mellish (Adam Goldberg)

Comments for death : Saving Private Ryan: Private Stanley Mellish (Adam Goldberg).

Was the stabby german soldier the same Steamboat willie they released earlier? The same one who is later shot by the translator? I know of the three instances two are teh same guy, not sure if its all three.

It's not the same guy, at least according to sources I've read.

It must have been the same guy. At the end he says, "Upham..." before Upham shoots him.

The german guy that he shoots, saying ´upham i know you´, that is the guy they let go with a blindfold earlier in the film

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DeathAngel
It must have been the same guy. At the end he says, "Upham..." before Upham shoots him.

Yes, the guy who kills Tom Hanks and is then shot by Upham is the fellow who they let go earlier. But the one who kills Mellish and passes Upham on the stairs is a different guy.

Is the soldier that they let go and shot Tom Hanks the same soldier who killed the american soldier with the knife? I need whatever help I can get on this one, there are at least 100 people saying they were the same and I'm one of the few that says differently. ( There are steak dinners riding on this.)

Try reading through a thread before you post. It's been stablished that the soldier who kills Miller (Hanks) is not the same guy who kills Mellish. The guy who kills Miller is "Steamboat Willie," the machine-gunner who Miller let go earlier; Upham kills him in retaliation. The guy who stabs Mellish is a different soldier.

What makes it confusing is the guy loses his helmet in the fight with Mellish, making it difficult to distinguish him from Steamboat Willie because all of the Germans have odd crewcuts (which I've read most German soldiers of the time did not actually have), making them all appear very similar to one another with their helmets off.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2008 12:57AM by Kooshmeister.

The guy who kills Mellish was Waffen-SS, as shown by the SS insignia on his collar. Steamboat Willie, on the other hand, lacks this insignia. For more details, click here.

The small squad of Rangers and airborne troops defending the bridge are fighting a Waffen SS divsion, the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich". This is chronologically incorrect as the Das Reich division arrived on the Western Front around 16th July, while Miller's headstone states that he died on the 14th, during the main battle for the bridge with Das Reich division tanks, assault guns and Panzergrenadiers (motorised infantry). The Das Reich division had been battle tested, hardened and performed with great skill on the Eastern Front against the Red Army before being transferred to the West. Its a shame that in Saving Private Ryan they are portrayed as being so green, walking straight into Miller's outfits ambush without methodically clearing house to house during their advance through the town. Given the importance of the bridge and lack of any visible resistance, they should have known that something wasn't right and anticipated an ambush in advance, instead of walking straight into it and getting blown to hell and gone. Only their numbers really saved them. Other things like driving a Marder (open topped tank destroyer) down the main street, lined with multi-teared buildings was just plain stupid. The Marder, inevitably was knocked out from above by infantry with Molotov cocktails. Another point I wonder about is whether the Stug (assault gun) could elevate its 75mm weapon as much as it did to engage Jackson (the sniper) and Parker (the machine gunner) in the bell tower. I should check it. On the American side, having two .30 cal machine guns - why not distribute ALL the .30 cal ammunition before the ambush, instead of trying to do it piecemeal, under intense fire? Anticipating close combat, those with compatible weapons - including Mellish - should have fixed bayonets. Mellish would have stood a better chance against the SS infantryman who eventually stabs him, if he had done so. The SS panzergrenadier that kills Mellish is NOT "Steamboat Willie", "Willie" is shot in the end when Upham somehow manages to get 10-15 men to surrender, and he tries to communicate with Upham. But Upham had seen him shoot Captain Miller on the bridge, who had shown him mercy back at the radar site. Upham decides he deserves to die for his misdeeds and pops him then and there. Also, "Willie" is not an SS trooper, he is a Wermacht soldier, probably from the 352nd infantry division, who were defending the beaches at Omaha. There are numerous things that I won't go on with. Saving Private Ryan is a great movie, but it has its flaws just like any other.