Saving Private Ryan was inspired by a true story, so who are the real subjects? Directed by Steven Spielberg, the 1998 classic follows a group of eight U.S. soldiers who survive the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, and then receive a mission to track down a fellow serviceman. The story is loosely based on the Niland brothers who served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
In Saving Private Ryan, Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) leads the 2nd Ranger Battalion at Omaha Beach during the Normandy invasion. He miraculously survives the experience, and learns about four siblings who also participated in D-Day, with only one of them surviving: Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon). General George C. Marshall requests that the surviving soldier should be brought back to the United States as a courtesy to his mother (the Sole Survivor Policy was enacted four years later). Miller is tasked with locating Ryan, and enlists seven men for the mission. Saving Private Ryan premiered in July 1998 and preceded the releases of Spielberg and Hanks' World War II miniseries Band of Brothers and The Pacific.
The first two acts of Saving Private Ryan explore the inherent dangers of Miller's mission, as both Adrian Caparzo (Vin Diesel) and Irwin Wade (Giovanni Ribisi) are killed by German soldiers. When the group tracks down Ryan and the 101st Airborne Division in Ramelle, France, the targeted soldier refuses to leave his comrades while defending a bridge and waiting for reinforcements. Incidentally, Miller's squad teams up with their fellow soldiers, and the final hour of Saving Private Ryan chronicles their experiences during the Battle at Ramelle. In the film, James Francis Ryan learns that his brothers Sean and Peter were killed during the Normandy invasion, and that his other brother Daniel died shortly before in New Guinea. The story is loosely based on Tonawanda, New York native Frederick "Fritz" Niland, an American soldier who served during World War II and was sent home after the reported deaths of his brothers Edward, Preston, and Bob. For dramatic purposes, Saving Private Ryan changes a few facts.
In real life, Fritz Niland was indeed part of the 101st Airborne division and landed at Normandy on D-Day. In addition, he also wanted to stay with his military brothers upon learning that he would be sent home. Fritz's story deviates from Saving Private Ryan in that he actively sought out his brother Bob, only to learn that he'd been killed at Neuville-au-Plain in Normandy on D-Day. He then discovered that Preston had died one day after Bob in Normandy at the Crisbecq Battery, a German stronghold that was eventually abandoned. Saving Private Ryan also changes the fact that the third brother wasn't killed in New Guinea. Edward Niland actually wasn't killed at all. However, a report surfaced in 1944 that he'd died in Burma after being shot down in the jungle. One year later, Edward was released from a Japanese POW camp and returned home to America.
A 2018 news report (via WIVBTV) offers more specifics about the Niland brothers' service. According to Edward's son Preston, Bob was killed after refusing to leave his fellow soldiers and stated "If you're staying, I'm staying." The following day, Preston lost his life while tending to a wounded soldier. Edward's son acknowledges that "Spielberg got it wrong" in Saving Private Ryan because his father did indeed come home. He also describes how his grandparents awaited Edward's return despite reports of his death:
"At the dinner table, they would set a place for my dad. They knew the other two brothers, their two sons, were dead, but they would set a place for my dad, hoping that he would come home."