Ralph Waldo Emerson
Born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 25, 1803, Ralph Waldo Emerson was a noted American poet, lecturer, author, essayist and philosopher, and was a leader in the transcendentalism movement. Emerson died of pneumonia on April 27, 1882.
While stopped briefly in Neuville during their search for Private Ryan, Corporal Upham confided in Captain Miller his belief that his war experiences were good for him. From "War," a lecture given by Emerson in Boston in March of 1838, Upham quoted the following: "War educates the senses, calls into action the will, perfects the physical constitution, brings men into such swift and close collision in critical moments that man measures man."