SAVING PRIVATE RYAN by Bill Carrington
The new Steven Spielberg film, Saving Private Ryan, is in my mind his best film ever. Anyone who ever served in combat will shudder as the bullets and shrapnel appear to rip through the flesh of the actors, and no doubt most will sink low in their seat as suddenly the terrors of war start unfolding before their eyes. The first twenty-five minutes of the movie is a graphic reenactment of the American soldiers storming Omaha Beach during World War II.
Most of my friends who served in WWII and the movie critics who have seen "Saving Private Ryan" are calling it a brilliant movie with superb acting and special effects. I personally believe this movie will become known as the best war movie ever made. Not only is it well produced, it contains a little bit of everything associated with men at war. It shows bravery, cowardness, comraderie, compassion, civil suffering, mass destruction of equipment and property, and most importantly it shows how much a dedicated group of soldiers can accomplish when they work together toward a common goal.
Most of you will be surprised to learn that there is a real-life story of a soldier like Private Ryan. His name is Frederick "Fritz" Niland and he served with the 101st Airborne Division during WWII. While serving with the 101st he was awarded, among other awards, the Bronze Star Medal. Fritz's cousin and close pal, Tom Niland, is a long time member of the 101st Airborne Division Association which is located in Bentonville. Tom Niland is also a retired basketball coach of Le Moyne College and resides in upstate New York.
Private Ryan and Captain Miller of the movie, played by Matt Damon and Tom Hanks respectfully, is a fictionalized version of the real story of Fritz Niland. However, the movie and the real story are very much the same. After the five Sullivan Brothers died when their ship sank in WWII, our government officials decided to make sure no family would be subjected to losing all their sons in combat. The sight of a mother receiving notification of a son's demise was taking place all over the states, but losing five at once sent the whole nation into mourning. Many sole surviving sons were released from active duty as a result of this decision. However, when D-Day came on June 6, 1944, the landings in France required massive numbers of troops. Fritz, the youngest of four brothers wound up in the first wave that went in. His brother Robert Niland, a tech sergeant, was killed on that day as he manned his machine gun. Another brother, Lt. Preston Niland, died the next day, June 7, 1944. Meanwhile, the oldest Niland brother, Edward, was shot down over Burma and was considered MIA (missing in action).
Robert, 29, and Preston, 25, has enlisted before Pearl Harbor forced the United States to decalre war. Fritz, 23, and Edward, 31, followed shortly thereafter. In the film, Tom Hanks' character, Ranger Captain John MIller, dramatically leads a party to search for the last surviving Ryan. In reality, a chaplain, Father Francis L. Sampson, went in search of Fritz Niland, found him and sent him back home so his parents would not be subjected to another telegram.
Retired Lieutenant General and Monsignor Francis L. Sampson authored numerous books and articles relating to his militiary experiences before he died in January, 1996. The current movie, Saving Private Ryan was developed from an event which took place in Father Sampson's book, Look Out Below! Father Sampson was a soldier's general. His book is available through the 101st Airborne Division Assocation in Bentonville, Ohio. For additional information call: (937) 549-4326.
Billy A. Carrington, CW3, U.S. Army Retired