Private Daniel Jackson quotes from Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Private Daniel Jackson

Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.

Private Daniel Jackson

My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.

Private Daniel Jackson

O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not my enemies try and fool me.

Private Daniel Jackson

You're not that far from me oh Lord.

Private Daniel Jackson

Seems to me, Cap'n, this mission is a serious misallocation of valuable military resources.

Private Daniel Jackson

Well, sir, seems to me, God gave me a special gift, fashioned in me a fine instrument of warfare.

Private Daniel Jackson

What I mean, sir, is if you was to put me with this here sniper rifle anywhere up to and including one mile from Adolf Hitler... with a clean line of sight... well, pack your bags, boys. War's over.

Private Daniel Jackson

Hey, Upham, careful you don't step in the bullshit!

Private Daniel Jackson

Parker get out

Captain, I have an opinion on this matter.

By all means, share it with the squad.

Well, the way I see it, this entire mission is a serious misallocation of valuable military resources.

Yeah, go on.

Sir, I always believed God gave me a special gift, to make me a fine instrument of warfare.

Reiben, pay attention. This is the way to gripe.

Lt. Dewindt

FUBAR.

Pvt. Reiben

FUBAR.

FUBAR.

FUBAR.

Y'all got that right.

Hey, I looked up “fubar” in the German dictionary. There's no “fubar” in there.

Pvt. Mellish

Hey! You want to get your head blown off, you fancy little ****? Don't ever **** touch me with those dirty little rat claws again. Get the **** back in formation.

I was just wondering where you're from, that's...[Mellish glares at him. Upham walks ahead to Caparzo] Uh, Caparzo, is that it?

Pvt. Caparzo

Hey, drop dead, corporal.

Got you.

Pvt. Caparzo

And another thing, every time you salute the captain you make him a target for the Germans. So do us a favor, don't do it. Especially when I'm standing next to him. Capisce?

Alright, capisce.

Medic Wade

Corporal, what's your book about?

It's supposed to be about the bonds of brotherhood developed between soldiers during war.

Pvt. Caparzo

Brotherhood? What do you know about brotherhood? Get a load of this guy, Fish. Why don't you ask the captain where he's from?

Pvt. Mellish

Yeah, ask the captain. He'll tell ya everything you wanna know about him.

Pvt. Reiben

You want to explain the math of this to me? I mean, where's the sense in risking the lives of the eight of us to save one guy?

Twenty degrees. [Speaks up] Anyone wanna answer that?

Medic Wade

Hey, Reiben, think about the poor bastard's mother.

Pvt. Reiben

Hey, doc, I got a mother, you got a mother, the sarge has got a mother. Shit, I'll bet that even the Captain's got a mother. [Looks at Miller] Well, maybe not the Captain, but the rest of us have got mothers.

"Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die."

Pvt. Mellish

La-la-la-la-la-la-la. What the **** is that supposed to mean, Corporal? We're all supposed to die, is that it?

Upham's talking about our duties as soldiers. We have orders and we are to follow those orders, and that supersedes everything, including our mothers.

Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.

Pvt. Reiben

Even if you think the mission's FUBAR, Captain?

Especially if you think the mission's FUBAR.

What's FUBAR?

Pvt. Mellish

Oh, it's German.

Never heard of it.

Sir, I have an opinion on this matter.

Well, by all means, share it with the squad.

Well, from my way of thinking, sir, this entire mission is a serious misallocation of valuable military resources.

Yeah, go on.

Well, it seems to me, sir, that God gave me a special gift. Made me a fine instrument of warfare.

Reiben, now pay attention. THIS is the way to gripe. Continue Jackson.

Well, what I mean by that, sir, is if you's to put me and this here sniper rifle, anywhere up to and including one mile of Adolf Hitler with a clear line of sight, sir, pack your bags fellas, war's over. Amen.

Pvt. Reiben

Oh, that's brilliant, bumpkin. [At Miller] Say Captain, you don't gripe at all?

I don't gripe to you, Reiben. I'm a Captain. We have a chain of command. Gripes go up, not down. Always up. You gripe to me, I gripe to my superior officer, and so on and so on and so on. I don't gripe to you. I don't gripe in front of you. You should know that, as a Ranger.

Pvt. Reiben

Well, I'm sorry, sir, but let's say you weren't a Captain, or maybe I was a Major. What would you say then?

Ah, well, in that case, I'd say this is an excellent mission, sir, with an extremely valuable objective, sir, worthy of my best efforts, sir. Moreover, I feel heartfelt sorrow for the mother of Private James Ryan and am willing to lay down my life, and the lives of my men — especially you, Reiben — to ease her suffering.

Pvt. Mellish

He's good.

Pvt Caparzo

I love him.