But who is his character based on?
The companys task is to find Ryan and ship him back home in accordance with the Sole Survivor Policy.
While Rodats story is largely fictionalized, Damons Ryan was indeed inspired by one of the real-life Niland brothers.
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Heres everything to know about the true story behindSaving Private Ryan.
Who are the Niland brothers who inspired Steven Spielbergs film?
He was presumed dead.
Niland Brothers who inspired Saving Private Ryan.
Fritz, the loose inspiration for Damons Private Ryan, was believed to be the sole surviving Niland brother.
The Niland parents received news of three of their sons deaths around the same time.
Another letter they got during this time was from Fritz.
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On the heels of these multiple tragedies, Fritz was ordered to return home.
Then in May 1945, Edward was discovered alive when a Burmese POW camp was liberated by British forces.
He had been held captive by the Japanese for nearly a year, dropping to just 80 pounds.
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He returned home that month as the second surviving Niland brother.
Was there really an order in place to save the sole survivor of a family?
Indeed, there was.
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The directive was put into action in 1942, approximately two years before the events told in Spielbergs film.
The fiverequested to serve together, a practice neither common nor discouraged at the time.
How closely did Matt Damons character mirror the real-life Fritz Niland?
Though Private Ryan was inspired by Fritz Niland, many details about him and his rescue were fictional.
Like Niland, Ryan has three brothers who are all killed in action.
But beyond that, Spielbergs film takes plenty of creative liberties.
For starters, Nilandcouldntgo against a direct order, so he waspromptly sent back home.
Saving Private Ryanused authentic WWII landing crafts: 10 LCVPs and two LCMs.
Location-wise, the production was not allowed on Omaha Beach in Normandy, which is now a historic landmark.
Instead, Spielberg filmed the invasion scenes in Ireland onCurracloe BeachandBallinesker Beach.
Soldiers getting shot while underwater was another fictional embellishment used for dramatic effect.
Bullets dont operate that way; they lose momentum upon hitting the water.
Is Tom Hanks character based on a real person?
Hanks John H. Miller is entirely fictional.
For starters,Company Cwas commanded byCapt.
And Goranson wasnt the man who plucked Fritz Niland out of the war and sent him home.
In real life, that was done byFather Francis L. Sampson, the chaplain of Nilands regiment.
A Notre Dame graduate,Sampson, then 32, was a volunteer chaplain.
