(The following messages originally appeared on the old message board and have been moved here.)

DID CAJE REALLY KILL THE PRISONER
by Rebecca posted 9/23/99 11:57:15 AM

In the episode where a german prisoner was captured by caje kirby and hanley or was it saunders, he kept saying don't shoot do not shoot and kirby wanted him shot he was kind of mean to him usually kirby is kind to prisoners. they used the prisoner to tell the german patrol no one was in the house then they did not beleive him also the german was schooled in the U.S. he sang for them the unanswered question is then the squad left threw a tunnel with a german tank firing on them
hanley or saunders told caje to kill the prisoner when they all left the squad heard a shot but the next day near the river Caje was saying something to hanly or saunders to the effect he let the prisoner go...am I on the right track and episode it is a little confusing...

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re: DID CAJE REALLY KILL THE PRISONER
by Glenn Garfield Ang posted 9/23/99 6:57:46 PM

Dear Rebecca,

The episode to which you are referring is "Forgotten Front" and it was indeed Sgt. Saunders and not Lt. Hanley that was in charge of the patrol. Caje did not kill the German deserter but allowed him to live. For more information about that episode, check the episode reviews under the category "The show".

I guess that is all for now. Until I hear from you again, so long!

Your fellow COMBAT! fan,

Glenn

By Nathaniel Bridger (Nathaniel) on Unrecorded Date:

Combat fans who saw "Saving Private Ryan" may be
forgiven if they experienced severe Deja Vu in the scene where "Steamboat Willie" is captured --and eventually released (thanks to Upham's impassioned intervention)--by Captain Miller & Co. Again, we have a hapless, pathetic and somewhat comic example of the "reluctant warrior" no one with any claim to decency would feel at all comfortable with killing. Caje, we feel confident, could NEVER "do the ugly deed" though Saunders might reluctantly order it. In "Ryan", though, we see Upham--stressed to the point of nervous collapse--greet "Willie" with a hail of bullets simply because he happened to be an occupant of a house ruin where an atrocity and a murder have just taken place. (No, poor old Willie was NOT "The Stabber": a sharp-eyed friend pointed out to me that the pink-colored trim on this loathsome character's collar identifies him as an SS soldier, not a "Regular" Germany Infantryman.)

I think the "Forgotten Front" episode is extremely valuable for the simple reason that it shows how much Spielberg may have owed to the original "Combat!" concept, and how he may have attempted to update it with post-"Platoon" cynicism. Saunders, Doc, Caje and even Kirby are all relieved that their 'prisoner' will survive. We are, too.