For the uninitiated, the 1998 film follows a group of soldiers who are tasked with retrieving the titular Private Ryan after all three of his brothers are killed in action. Screenwriter Robert Rodat came up with the premise for the movie while looking at a monument memorializing soldiers who had been killed in American wars and noticed sets of brothers in the list of deceased veterans. Rodat was also inspired by the story of the Nilands, who were mentioned in Stephen E.
Since the military assumed Fritz was the only remaining Niland brother left alive, when he attempted to join the 82nd Airborne Division shortly after D-Day, he was informed of his siblings’ death and sent home.In an interview with WIVB, Edward Niland’s son Preston said that his uncle Fritz reacted to his dismissal from the military the same was as Private Ryan. “The Matt Damon character — my cousin Catie said — he said exactly what Uncle Fritz said when they sent him home,” Preston said.
James Niland, the great-nephew of the Niland brothers, also discussed his family’s legacy with the outlet. “They came together to conquer an unthinkable task and really showed the world that nothing is impossible with the American spirit,” he said. “Those men were legends, and it was a legendary triumph. They’ll live on forever.”costar Brittany Murphy: 'I still miss her'Hit Man