Is the captured German soldier that Capt. Miller (Tom Hanks) orders released (because Miller doesn’t want to just shoot him in cold blood, and can’t afford to take him along and continuously guard him) the same guy who stabs the Jewish soldier in the bombed-out upstairs apartment while the corporal is paralyzed with fear on the stairs?
If so, is that too big of a coincidence for you to swallow?
It’s not the same guy. If it were, yes, that would be too big a coincidence for me to accept easily.
They’re not the same guy.
But even if he’s not the guy who killed Mellish, he *is * the guy that Upham later kills, so the coincidence is still there. But since I don’t know how many German troops are in the area, or how big an area we’re talking about, I have no reason to believe it’s too big coincidence that they would later come into contact again.
I mean think about it - even if there were 5000 troops in the area, and especially if those troops are bound to come into conflict with the Americans, the chances that they would run into the same guy again should be much much larger than, say, running into somebody you know on the street of a moderate size city (a plot device you see routinely in movies).
Although it is a little annoying coincidentally that Miller lets the guy go and later in the movie it’s that same guy that fires the shot that kills him. Overall, though, I’m okay with it.
He is the same guy. He tries to appeal to Upham right before Upham shoots him.
Yes, THAT’s the same guy. The OP isn’t asking about the guy Upham shoots; he’s asking about the guy who stabs Mellish. They’re not the same guy. Technically they don’t even serve in the same army.
I found it interesting that when Miller lets him go, Riben says that he might be found by germans and put right back in the fight. Which is of course, exactly what happened.
And RickJay is right, The guy who killed Mellish was an SS trooper. “Steamboat Willie” was in the wermacht.
Slight Hijack, but can anyone tell me what he whispers to Mellish before he kills him?
I’ve always wanted to know.
According to the IMDB:
As a further hijack - what would have been the correct thing to do with Steamboat Willie from a Rules of Engagement/military law point of view? If you can’t take a prisoner at the time, do you have to let him go? I figured they should have at least taken & burned his boots, so he’d be less combat effective if he did make it back to a German unit.
They’re not? I thought they were. I thought that’s how Upham finally got some balls…he realized the German soldier, despite getting some American mercy, stabbed one of the guys who set him free.
A thread on that very question: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=144411
See Terminus Est’s link. They look vaguely similar - the shaved heads will fool you - but clearly aren’t the same person, and wear different uniforms.
I always thought that Upham shot the german that stabbed Mellish.
He takes the german post, the stabber mumbles something that implies
“huh, this one is a coward”,
and Upham shoots him, thus gaining testicles.
I just didn’t connect Steamboat Willie to the final scenes at all.
Well I’ll be damned. I’ll have to rewatch the movie. But I like my way better. 
Si
Ok, much has been said about whether the German soldier who stabs and kills Mellish is the same soldier from the MG nest released by Capt. Miller earlier in the movie. Here’s what I see from watching the YouTube clips.
The German soldier released by Capt. Miller has a wound near his right eye.(See YouTube Clip: I Like American)
The German soldier who kills Mellish does not have a wound near his right eye, and does not recognize Upham on the stairs. (See Saving Private Ryan (6/7) Movie CLIP)
When Upham is crouching in the ditch and sees the German soldiers advance toward the American position on the bridge, Upham see the German soldier from the MG nest with the same injury near the right eye. (See Saving Private Ryan (7/7) Movie CLIP)
It’s interesting how many posters in this thread described Upham shooting the German at the end as him “finding his balls,” and not, “losing his thin veneer of human decency.”
If he had really found his balls after freezing in the stairwell and causing the death of several of his comrades, he’d’ve shot *all * the SS troopers he was guarding. This occurred far more often in WWII than most people would think.
I always thought that he felt he had to shoot the one person alive who’d witnessed that he’d been so cowardly as to contribute to the death of a fellow soldier.
I thought it was to make the rip off of the Mark Hamill plot line from The Big Red One complete.