The True Story of the Niland Brothers Who Inspired ''Saving Private Ryan''

This heart-wrenching story of sacrifice, family and duty

Steven Spielberg's iconic 1998 film Saving Private Ryan is considered one of the most impactful war flicks of all time. The movie mesmerized all the world with its gritty and realistic brutal depiction of the horrors of World War II, especially the craziness of the D-Day landings. Although the story of Private James Francis Ryan was fictitious, it was based on the true story of the Niland brothers. the tragic loss of life and in war, horrific choices that follow.

A Family Divided by War

The genesis of ''Saving Private'' Ryan is the small town of Tonawanda, New York, home to four brothers, Frederick Fritz Robert, Preston, and Edward Niland, who joined the military during World War II. Like so many young men of the period, they were overwhelmed with a sense of duty to serve their country, and each of the Niland brothers was assigned to different arms and units. Fritz and Bob were inthe 501stand 505tParachut, Infantry,Regiments ,respectively, Preston was in the 22nd Infantry and Edward volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Force

Tragedy struck in 1944, weeks before the D-Day invasion, when Edward Niland was captured by the Japanese in Burma. He parachuted into the jungle lost contact with his unit and was presumed dead in battle. The news of Edward's capture, coupled with the deaths of his brothers Bob and Preston, devastated the Niland family.

Bob Niland had been killed in the savage assault on the beaches of Normandy with the 82nd Airborne Division. His courage in holding with two other soldiers behind to slow the German advance brought him a posthumous hero's glory. Preston, meanwhile, died the day after Bob in the middle of a firefight at Utah Beach, succumbing to his wounds after trying to take a German artillery position. By the time Mrs. Niland learned about their deaths, she had already heard about Edward's presumed death, and hers became too much to bear,

The U.S. government response

As the war raged on the U.S. government, well aware of the overwhelming grief this family had gone through, concluded that one of the Niland brothers still living, Fritz, needed to come home. This decision was profoundly influenced by the devastating reality of having multiple family members lost to war and echoes the premise of Saving Private where the fictional Private James Ryan is sent home after his brothers are slain in battle.

When the U.S. War Department learned of the Nilands' tragic losses, it enlisted Father Francis Sampson, a chaplain serving with the 501st Regiment, to help find Fritz. After D-Day, Fritz had journeyed to join his brother Bob, only to discover that Bob was already dead. This was when Father Sampson stepped in and made sure Fritz returned home to New York.

In a final cruel twist, as Fritz was being brought back to the United States, word came that Edward, presumed dead, was in fact, alive. Edward had just been freed from a Japanese POW camp and was heading home. And with that, two of the brothers Niland, who once, despite the losses they had borne, belonged to a family too big to get together for Thanksgiving, were back together.

A Happier Ending Than in the Film

Unlike the tragic conclusion of Saving Private the true story of the Niland brothers has a much more uplifting resolution. The Nilands had lost three sons but they were eventually reunited with two surviving brothers, Fritz and Edward. The surviving Nilands eventually lived out their lives in Tonawanda, and the family's legacy would be forever intertwined with sacrifices made during World War II.

But while this story was a bit of good news, it also raised important questions about the nature of sacrifice in the war and the emotional toll that it takes on families. Yet these are the themes that Saving Private Ryan explored and quite poignantly, albeit with some dramatic liberties.

The Sullivans: A Sadder Story

People confuse the Saving Private story with that of the Sullivan brothers, a family in Iowa that served together during World War II and met a tragic end serving together. The Sullivans, George, Frank, Joe, Matt and Al, joined the U.S. Navy adamant that they would serve together as a family. Their ship was struck in November 1942, during the Battle of Guadalcanal, by a Japanese torpedo and all five brothers died. The deaths of the Sullivan brothers resulted in a new policy that brothers could no longer serve together on the same ship or unit.

So though the Sullivans’ story really was heartbreaking and did shape wartime policy, the impetus for Saving Private is firmly established in the experiences of the Niland brothers, a family whose story may not be as well known but whose sacrifices were no less significant.

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