including The Greatest Generation (1998), and a controversial World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Many publications believed this renewed interest in the war to be a response to decades of American cynicism toward the nation's failure in the Vietnam War (1955–1975), and anticlimatic victories in the Cold and Gulf wars that resulted in little diplomatic success or celebration. Many films about the Vietnam War depicted its American combatants as self-hating, "deeply troubled, or even psychotic," offered little respect, and portrayed the conflict itself as one mired in dread, anxiety, and general negativity. Literature professor Marzena Sokołowska-Paryż said the worship of WWII as "the last Good War" and its veterans as "the greatest generation" represented a "therapeutic [form of] patriotism" designed to rehabilitate the modern image of combatants as the enduring legacy of WWII soldiers and the core American national identity while forgetting any lingering guilt over the Vietnam War. Film scholar Albert Auster described this reappraisal as a reversal of attitudes up to the early 1990s where historical wars, including WWII, were not beyond criticism and, particularly in response to the Vietnam War, literary critics aimed to undo the impression of WWII as the "Good War." Saving Private Ryan is "unashamedly" American, beginning and ending with an image of the nations flag fluttering in the wind, a desaturated image suggesting a nostalgic image of "the deep pride we once felt in our flag." Stephen Holden described it as "a wholehearted celebration of American pluck and virtue and honor." Holden and Ebert disagreed with the view of some critics that Saving Private Ryans "harrowing" and realistic combat scenes were a statement against war. They wrote that it accepts war as a necessity and portrays its main characters not as symbols, but as real people trying to kill the enemy without getting themselves killed. The scenes of the elderly Ryan visiting Miller's grave with his family. These scenes received some criticism as overly sentimental. Author John Biguenet queried how such a "savage and unsentimental film" could conclude with a scene so sentimentalized. Spielberg said in making the film he was meant to "wave the flag and be patriotic," but that the reality of his father's experiences made him want to also convey the harsh reality. The Omaha Beach landing establishes the distance between the commanders safe at home who order Ryan be rescued, and the soldiers endangered in doing so. It