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This movie showed a great sense of nationalism and patriotism. The men that were portrayed risked and lost their lives for their country without question. WW2 was one of our biggest wars to date and it not only brought the country together, but it made us stronger. Both of my grandparents lived through WW2 and the stories they tell of the country at the time are crazy. My grandmother who was 19 at the time saw 75% of her school disappear to the war over night. The morning announcements in her school on a Monday morning told them they had declared war with Germany and that all the boys were being drafted this week, and within the week all of her friends were gone. She had to stay at home and take all the jobs that the men had held before so the country could keep running. My grandfather was drafted as a 19-year-old to be an airborne medic with only a year of medical training. His medical infantry was dropped into all the battles that were filmed in this movie. It is amazing to be to get a glimpse into the situations that my grandfather was dropped into. The movie not only shows the battles, but it emphasizes the feelings felt by all the soldiers. The scene that impacted me the most was when the group of soldiers was searching through a bag of dog tags, with the line of soldiers walking by. You could see it in their faces that that bag of dog tags would be all that is left of them, they would be degraded to a single piece of metal in a bag. The emotions that came out in that scene showed how degrading the war was to individuality. The soldiers were sent to basically be killed and no one would care except their families who most likely would not be able to see them again, just a piece of metal with their name on it. 

The film, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is known to be one of the best war films ever created. The replication of the Normandy Beach storming from World War II left many viewers, including me in awe. I noticed the first several minutes of the film to be very intense as well as engaging. The depiction of those initially landing on the shores caught me off guard. The reason being is because the soldiers, who are stereotypically portrayed as tough, seemed to be confused and somewhat scared in this specific example. This sense of emotion that was displayed was irreplaceable. At an instant as harsh as this, it was acceptable to be scared. Beyond this point though, American society found it to be unacceptable to share emotions. Discussion about a war for veterans is an especially challenging topic to talk about due to the amount of emotion that comes with it. Generally speaking, soldiers are known to be ‘tough guys’ and do not show their emotions. In relation to Huntington’s beliefs, this ideology was apart of the culture during the World War II era. Being an American at this time, especially a male soldier included highly different expectations as to how one should hold him or herself than today. Part of having an American identity meant being ‘hard’ and rolling with the punches. The movie, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ does a very good job in making this claim come to light as it played into favor for both ends of the spectrum.

This chapter is titled Emergence, Triumph, Erosion. Just from the title of the section you see a life cycle of a nation and it’s struggles. There is the emersion of a new nation, that can only happen when a group collectively decides it is going to be a nation. The triumph, or the ruling success of a nation in its global, economic, and cultural influence over the world. Then lastly the erosion of its power and glory in the world view. Some nations have long life cycles where they are in the triumph phase for generations, where as there are some nations that will only be influential for a few years when the political climate is right. These nations are as Huntington says constantly being constructed and deconstructed, upgraded and downgraded. 

Huntington points out that there were five historical movements that pushed America into the creation of their national identity, away from just being a territory and now a society. First in the 1730s when the Great Awakening hit, there was anew sense of ‘trans-colonial’ ideas and themes. Then there was the almost eighty years of wars between America and the Indians with their French allies. Thirdly there was the Seven Years war with Britain due to taxation laws. Fourthly, the colonies grew communication between them and focused less of outside battles and more on creating stronger ties with each other. Then lastly there was a great abundance of land for these new colonists to farm and develop, creating less of a competition for resources between the colonies. All of these things previously listed are what drove the colonist closer together and created their strong national identity. 

America grew in triumph by their economic developments, reconciliation, and their rituals/symbols. These things brought the new nation together and brought a new sense of patriotism to the people. Rituals brought people together and made strangers friends because they had something in common, and the American people grew closer to each other making a stronger national identity of who they are. As the melting pot of the world the Americas were previously not to nationalistic and found that they were all so different, but as a people under one nation they found that they all wanted a better world and they were willing to make one, so they found a way to succeed. 

            Even though there was a triumph and it still feels like today we are in the phase, Huntington points out our fading nationalism. He says in the 1960s our nationalism began to fade from one that dominated other countries to one that was not enthusiastic. This was because all of the implications that were made to rise America were not fading in the background. Immigration was decreasing due to our political involvement and a gap deepened between the social and economic classes in America. 

            In chapter six of Samuel Huntington’s ‘Who Are We?’ there is an emphasis on creating an American identity. I found the example of Benjamin Franklin that he used to be quite fascinating. Given his reputation and historical background, it could be inferred that he was a pure American. Despite this though, the text revealed that Franklin’s identity transformation was quite rapid in the late eighteenth century. Initially proclaiming that he was a ‘Briton’, Franklin signed the Declaration in July of 1776 renouncing his affiliation with the British. Like many others between 1740 and 1770, Franklin changed his identity from British to American. There are various explanations as to why this took place, but there were several influential events that take the responsibilities of this transformation. First, the Great Awakening brought together a diverse set of individuals who were able to indulge in new experiences. Second, the Americans were allied with the British during this era and had fought in many wars against the French and Indians; thus creating a sense of mutuality between the two powers. Third, the vast area of land, large population growth, and emerging trade markets created a heavy sense of opportunity from a financial standpoint. The desire of wanting to have an American identity was significantly high at the time due to the many relationships and opportunities that were viable. Nonetheless, these progressions stimulated that of American identity. I found Benjamin Franklin’s personal experience in regards to this to be particularly interesting due to the lack of my previous knowledge about him in relation to identity.