Paramount+ original film Saving Private Ryan was released July 24, 1998.
#SavingPrivateRyan cleared $482.3M at the international box office.
rottentomatoes: 94%
metacritic: 91
imdb: 8.6
oscars: 5 wins
golden globes: 2 wins
SAG awards: 2 nominations
Captain Miller
John H. Miller is given a unique reconnaissance mission shortly after being deployed in Normandy, France.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
1 nomination: 1999
Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1 nomination: 1999
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
1 nomination: 1999
“Port side, stick! Starboard side, stick. Move fast and clear those murder holes.” — Captain Miller
“Keep the sand out of your weapons. Keep those actions clear. I’ll see you on the beach.” — Captain Miller
“Over the side! Port and starboard, over the side!” — Captain Miller
“Sergeant Horvath! Move your men off the beach! Go! Anywhere but here! The sea wall! Move up to the sea wall! Clear this beach! Make way for the others!” — Captain Miller
“Every inch of this beach has been pre-sighted! You stay here, you’re dead men!” — Captain Miller
“Mama! Mama! Aaaaah! Stay down! Stay down! What are you guys? Get rid of that crap! Grab yourselves some weapons. Follow me.” — Captain Miller
“Briggs! Medic! All the armor’s foundering in the channel. Come on, Briggs! Medic! Move, move! Move! Come on! Move!” — Captain Miller
“Shore party. No armor has made it ashore. We got no D.D. tanks on the beach. Dog One is not open. Who’s in command here? Sergeant Horvath!” — Captain Miller
“You recognize where we are? Shore party. First wave, ineffective. We do not hold the beach. Say again, we do not hold the beach.” — Captain Miller
“Shore party. Shore party. CAT-F, CAT-F, C– get his attention. Wade! Wade! All right, get him off the beach.” — Captain Miller
“This is all? This is all that’s made it? Not enough. This is not enough. No, no. Vierville is to the west of us. This is Dog One. Gather weapons and ammo!” — Captain Miller
“Bangalores! Bring up some bangalores! Bangalores go up the line! Bangalores go up the line!” — Captain Miller
“Bangalores! Clear the shingle! Mellish, give me your bayonet. Two MG-42s and two mortars. Add 20, left 30. We gotta open up this draw! We gotta get this draw open. Reiben, Mellish, let’s get into the war! Grab some cover and put some fire on that crew. Davis, Debernardo, Young, Valk, get ready. Covering fire! Go, go, go!” — Captain Miller
“It’s the only way we can get everybody the hell out of here. Short, Payton, McDonald, Parkes! You’re next! All we can do here is die. Covering fire! Go, go, go! Come on! Come on, come on!” — Captain Miller
“Jackson. Do you see that impact crater? That should give you complete defilade from that machine gun position. Get in there and give me some fire discipline. Wait for my command. Go!” — Captain Miller
“I thought you were my mother. Dog One exit! Right here! Move!” — Captain Miller
“Let’s go, Sarge! Go. Come on, Doyle! Sarge! Flame! Doyle, do it!” — Captain Miller
“Sugar Cane. Sugar Charlie 3. Say again, Dog One is open. Send in the ‘dozers. I’m waiting here to tie in my flanks. Over.” — Captain Miller
“Yes, it is. Quite a view.” — Captain Miller
“Miller, Charlie Company. Uh, yes, sir. Sector 4 is secure. We, uh… we took out towed 88s here, here… and here. They’d already gotten four of Shermans and a number of our deuce-and-a-halves. These two minefields are actually one big one. We tried to make our way up through the middle of it, but it turned into a mixed, high-density field– little bit of everything.” — Captain Miller
“Sprengmine 44s, Schumine 42s, pot mines, A200s– the little wooden bastards that the mine detectors don’t pick up. This road here… they placed big mushrooms– teller mine 43s, I guess for our tanks– from here right up to the edge of the village, right here. So we marked ’em, called the engineers.” — Captain Miller
“We had higher support expectations, sir. There was an understrength company without artillery. Wehrmacht346 Infantry, von Luck Kampfgruppe. We ended up with 23 prisoners. We turned them over to M.P.s from the 29th. Well… the figures… were 35 dead… times two wounded. They just… didn’t wanna give up those 88s.” — Captain Miller
“Yes, sir. Yes, sir.” — Captain Miller
“I wish. You and I are taking a squad over to Neuville on a public relations mission. Some private in the 101st lost three brothers, and he’s got a ticket home. They think he’s up there somewhere, part of al those airborne misdrops.” — Captain Miller
“It’s like finding a needle in a stack of needles. We take the pick of the litter, and the rest get folded into Baker. It wasn’t my company, it was the army’s. So they told me, anyway. Give me Reiben on B.A.R., Jackson, Wade, Beasley, and Caparzo. All right. Mellish then. We got anybody speaks French?” — Captain Miller
“What about Talbot? Oh. All right. I’m gonna go try to dig up another interpreter. Assemble at battalion motor pool on the beach.” — Captain Miller
“As you were. I’m looking for Corporal Upham… Timothy E. I understand you speak French and German. How’s your accent? Very good. You’ve been reassigned to me. Grab your gear. We’re going to a place called Neuville.” — Captain Miller
“When was this updated? That’s what I understand, Corporal. You have a problem with that, Corporal? I need someone who speaks French and German. My two guys were killed. Did you fire the weapon in basic training? Well, then get your gear. That a souvenir? Take your time, Corporal. You should look on the bright side of things, Corporal. For one thing… you don’t need to carry those. You’ll need that. Need this. Don’t need that.” — Captain Miller
“20 degrees. Anybody wanna answer that? Upham’s talking about our duty as soldiers. We all have orders, and we have to follow ’em. That supersedes everything, including your mothers. Especially if you think the mission’s FUBAR.” — Captain Miller
“Well, by all means, share it with the squad. Yeah. Go on. Reiben, pay attention. Now, this is the way to gripe. Continue, Jackson.” — Captain Miller
“I don’t gripe to you, Reiben. I’m a captain. There’s a chain of command. Gripes go up, not down. Always up. You gripe to me, I gripe to my superior officer, so on, so on, and so on. I don’t gripe to you. I don’t gripe in front of you. You should know that as a ranger.” — Captain Miller
“Well, in that case, I’d say this is an excellent mission, sir, with an extremely valuable objective, sir, worthy of my best efforts, sir. Moreover… I feel heartfelt sorrow for the mother of Private James Ryan and am willing to lay down my life and the lives of my men, especially you, Reiben, to ease her suffering.” — Captain Miller
“Thunder! Upham, over there. Reiben, you four go. Just eight of us. We’re not your relief. Sorry. We’re here for a Private Ryan. Is he here? Uh-huh. Ryan? Ryan. James Ryan. He dropped in with 101st. Who’s that on the loudspeaker? ‘The Statue of Liberty is kaputt.’ That’s disconcerting.” — Captain Miller
“Get down. Long as his lungs have breath in them, he still carries the message. We do the same thing. Wade! Get ’em ready to travel. What’s the rest of Neuville look like? Show me. Sarge, hold right here. Right, let’s stay out of this enfilade and use the buildings. Try a left hook. Shoot ‘n’ scoot. Two of yours, two of mine.” — Captain Miller
“Reiben, Caparzo. Fundamentals. Short runs. High and low at the corners. Gonna be tight. Be prepared for close contact. Go. Upham, you stay with Sergeant Horvath. Good.” — Captain Miller
“It’s around this corner. Defilade right up to those gates. Do it. Upham, tell them to show themselves. Ask them if they know where the Germans are. What is he saying? No, no, no. We can’t take the kids. We can’t take the kids! No! It’s not gonna be safe when they’re with us! Not gonna be safe anywhere. Caparzo! Put that kid back! Caparzo… put that little girl back! Caparzo, get that kid back now! Caparzo, get the kid back up there!” — Captain Miller
“We’re not here to do the decent thing! We’re here to follow fuckin’ orders! Sarge, take this goddamn kid! Cover! I didn’t see it. Hold on, Caparzo. Wade, you stay put. You stay there! Detail! Clear down!” — Captain Miller
“That’s why we can’t take children. Sergeant Horvath, do an ammo check. Upham… canteens. Fill ’em up. Sergeant Hill. Gather your men. We’ll form up at the northwest corner of the square. Jackson! Mellish, check the tower, hustle back here. Right now. Go!” — Captain Miller
“Let’s hope so. John Miler, 2nd Rangers. Thank you. We’re here looking for a Private James Ryan. He’s part of your outfit. Any chance at all you policed him up?” — Captain Miller
“Scenic. We lost most of our ammo. This way. All right. Take a knee. Private, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you. Well, there isn’t any real easy way to say this, so, uh… so I’ll just say it. Your brothers are dead. We have, uh, orders to come get you… ’cause you’re going home.” — Captain Miller
“They were killed in action. You’re James Ryan? James Francis Ryan from Iowa? Yeah, I’m sure they’re fine. We’re looking for a different Private Ryan. This is just a big foul-up. I’m sorry for the trouble.” — Captain Miller
“I don’t know. Are you in touch with your C.O.? That figures. Baker Company, 5-0-6.” — Captain Miller
“Where was your drop zone? Vierville? How the hell did you end up way up here? Anybody from Baker company have a big mouth? Say where the drop zone might’ve been? Show me.” — Captain Miller
“My men are beat. We’re gonna hold up here for about three hours. We’ll pull out after dark. Got anything left in this town like a 3-star hotel, something with clean sheets and soft pillows and room service? We’ll take that. Well, we got the beachhead secure. Problem is Monty’s taking his time moving on Caen. We can’t pull out till he’s ready. So– no argument here.” — Captain Miller
“You got to take Saint-Lo to take Valognes. And Cherbourg, you got Paris. And then that big boat home. You do? Oh. Thank you.” — Captain Miller
“I don’t know. It started in Portsmouth when they brought us down for embarkation. It comes and goes. Nothing. What was the name of that kid at Anzio? The one that was always walking around on his hands, you know, and he was singing that song about the man on the flying trapeze? Vecchio. Yeah. Yeah, Vecchio. He was a goofy kid. Vecchio. ‘How did you get to be a ranger?’ Yeah, well, he could walk fast on his hands. He could run faster on his hands than… Vecchio. Yeah. Caparzo.” — Captain Miller
“You see, when… when you end up killing one of your men, you see, you tell yourself it happened so you could save the lives of two or three or 10 others. Do you know how many men I’ve lost under my command? 94. But that means I’ve saved the lives of 10 times that many, doesn’t it? Maybe even 20, right? 20 times as many? And that’s how simple it is. That’s how you… that’s how you rationalize making the choice between the mission and the men.” — Captain Miller
“This Ryan better be worth it. He’d better go home and cure some disease or invent a longer-lasting light bulb or something. ‘Cause the truth is, I wouldn’t trade 10 Ryans for one Vecchio or one Caparzo. Look. There it goes again. Now, look, we’re gonna move out in two hours. Why don’t you get some sleep?” — Captain Miller
“We only got a couple hours. Shut up and go to sleep. Corporal? How you doin’ there? You all right? Really? How is that? Yeah, well, I guess that’s Emerson’s way of… finding the bright side. I know some.” — Captain Miller
“What’s the pool up to? Well, when it gets up to 500, I’ll give you the answers and we’ll split the money. How about that? What if we don’t live that long? 500 would be good, yeah. Yeah. Get some sleep, Corporal.” — Captain Miller
Sergeant Horvath
“I want to see plenty of beach between men. Five men is a juicy opportunity. One man’s a waste of ammo.”
“Captain Miller! Captain Miller! Captain Miller! Ok, you guys! Get on my ass! Follow me!”
“Sir! Right where we’re supposed to be, but no one else is! We’re all mixed up, sir.”
“See anybody else? Wade!”
“We got scattered pretty bad, sir. There’s bound to be more of us. Dog One exit– it’s gotta be that cut on the right, or is it the one on the left? Shit!”
“Gather weapons and ammo! Come on, let’s drag ’em off the sand! Hey, Reiben, Reiben, Reiben, where’s your B.A.R.? Find a replacement.”
“Heads up! Bangers coming your way! Come on, come on, come on!”
“Fire in the hole! We’re in business! Defilade! Other side of the hole!”
“Son of a– get in there. There’s a little defilade over there, but it’s the perfect firing position if we can get some goddamn armor on the beach.”
“Goddamn firing squad. Go, God damn it!”
“Captain, if your mother saw you do that, she’d be very upset.”
“We’re in business! Reiben. Reiben.”
“Cease fire! Cut it out! Cut it out! Cease fire!”
“That’s quite a view.”
“You leading a squad? How come Neuville? It’s not gonna be easy finding one particular soldier in the middle of this whole goddamn war.”
“But what about the company? Jesus Christ. They took away your company? Beasley’s dead. Not that I know of.”
“This morning. Yes, sir. Listen up– what? You’re going home wrapped in an American flag with a hunk of cheese in your ass, Caparzo. What? Right.”
“Go, go, go, go, go. Yes, sir. Stay right here. I’ll wear him like underwear, Captain! Stay with me. I’ve been with him since Kasserine Pass, and I don’t have a clue.”
“Thunder! Thunder, or we will fire on you. Are you nuts?! Listen to the captain! Please don’t cry. I’m gonna take you back to your mama and papa. Please don’t cry. Come on. Clear up!”
“Drop your weapons! Enough to make you old.”
“Not to mention one of our men. So where in the hell is our Ryan? You think?”
“What’s with your hand? Well, you may have to get yourself a new line of work. This one doesn’t seem to agree with you anymore. What? What? Vecchio. I remember he used to pee a ‘V’ on everybody’s jacket for Vecchio. For victory. He was so short. He was a midget, wasn’t he? He got shot in the foot once didn’t he? And he was walking on his hands. How many? Except this time, this mission is a man. Amen.”
“Sir… are you all right?”
Private Jackson
“Jackson here, sir!”
“Sir. Yes, sir.”
“Be not thou far from me, O Lord. O my strength… haste thee to help me.”
“Sir… I have an opinion on this matter. Well, from my way of thinking, sir, this entire mission is a serious misallocation of valuable military resources. Well, it seems to me, sir, that God gave me a special gift, made me a fine instrument of warfare.”
“Well, what I mean by that, sir, is if you was to put me and this sniper rifle anywhere up to an including 1 mile of Adolf Hitler with a clear line of sight, sir– pack your bags, fellas. War’s over. Amen.”
“300 bucks, last I heard. Hey, Upham… careful you don’t step in the bullshit.”
“He was on the ground before we heard the shot. That’s where I’d be. 450 yards, Captain. Maybe a shade under. I wouldn’t venture out there, fellas! This sniper’s got talent! Carpy!”
“All right. Two clicks, left wind. O my God, I trust in thee. Let me not be ashamed. Let not my enemies triumph over me.”
“Sir! Drop ’em now! Now! Put ’em down!”
Private Reiben
“Reiben here, sir! Jackson, but that’s about it. Yo, Doc!”
“Bottom of the channel, sir. The bitch tried to drown me.”
“Reiben back, sir!”
“Why not just hand out blindfolds, Cap?”
“I thought you liked it in the ass? I thought you liked it in the ass?”
“You wanna explain the math of this to me? I mean, where’s the sense of risking the lives of the eight of us to save one guy? Hey, Doc, I got a mother, all right? I mean, you got a mother, Sarge has got a mother. I mean, shit, I bet even the captain’s got a mother. Well, maybe not the captain, but the rest of us got mothers.”
“Even if you think the mission’s FUBAR, sir? Oh, that’s brilliant, bumpkin. Hey, so, Captain, what about you? I mean, you don’t gripe at all? I’m sorry, sir, but, uh… let’s say you weren’t a captain, or maybe I was a major. What would you say then? He’s good.”
“You figure that one out, you got yourself a nice prize. Captain didn’t go to school. They assembled him at O.C.S. out of spare body parts and dead G.I.s.”
“Fuck Ryan. Drop the fucking weapons! I’ll shoot you!”
“Here comes our boy. Told you he was an asshole.”
“I don’t know how he does it. Falls asleep like that. I mean, look at him. The guy’s lights out the minute his head hits the pack. Yeah, what’s that saying? ‘If God’s on our side, who the hell could be on theirs?’ Yeah, what did I say?”
“Yeah, well, that wouldn’t have mattered none in my house. My ma, she would’ve come home, shook me awake, chatted me up till dawn. I swear, that woman was never too tired to talk.”
Private Mellish
“Mellish here. Wade! Come on, Wade! It’s Mellish! Wade! We found Miller! Let’s move! Let’s move!”
“Keep it moving. Keep it moving. Almost got it. Keep it moving. You got it?”
“Fuck. I can’t move.”
“Yeah? And now it’s a shabbat challah cutter, right?”
“You want your head blown off, you fancy little fuck? Don’t you ever fuckin’ touch me with those little rat claws again. Get the fuck back in formation.”
“Yeah, ask the captain. He’ll tell you everything you wanna know about him. ♪ La la la la la la la la ♪. What the fuck is that supposed to mean, huh? We’re all supposed to die, is that it?”
“Yeah. Your father was circumcised by my rabbi, you prick!”
“Company’s got a pool. Five bucks gets you in.”
“Come on. Carpy, put your head down. Put your head down. Carpy, you’re gonna send it yourself. Put it down! Carpy, I see it. We got him. Stay down. How bad is it?”
“Drop! Drop! Drop ’em! Shit!”
“What’s that? Clear conscience. How is that, Wade? Yeah, that’s probably the only time she could get a word in.”
“Who? Your– your mom?”
Adrian Caparzo
“Caparzo! We got deforest back there with Wade. He’s hurt so bad he said he sprung 100 leaks. Wade says he’s all used up.”
“Jesus! Lucky bastard.”
“Hey, Fish. Look at this. A Hitler Youth knife.”
“What are we gonna do?”
“Hey, drop dead, Corporal. And another thing, every time you salute the captain, you make him a target for the Germans. So do us a favor. Don’t do it. Especially when I’m standing next to him, capisce?”
“Brotherhood? What do you know about brotherhood? Get a load of this guy, Fish. Why don’t you ask the captain where he’s from?”
“Oh, it’s German. I love him.”
“Those sadistic fuckin’ animals! Why do they keep shooting him up? No, we wouldn’t!”
“You gotta pay attention to detail. I know where he’s from and exactly what he did ’cause I pay attention to detail.”
“It’s OK. It’s OK. Upham, how do you ‘it’s OK?’ I can’t. She reminds me of my niece, sir. Captain, the decent thing to do is to take her down the road to the next town. Oh!”
“Captain. Help me up. I can walk. I can walk. Fish! Fish, come over here. Copy it. Copy it and send it for me. It’s got blood! It’s– it’s… it’s to my dad. It’s got blood on it, Fish.”
T-4 Medic Wade
“He’s battalion surgeon, sir! I got it! We stopped the bleeding! We stopped the bleeding! Fuck! Just give us a fucking chance, you son of a bitch! Son of a fucking cocksucker!”
“Oh, God, oh, God.”
“You’re not gonna die. You’re not gonna die. You’re fine. Don’t look at it.”
“Fire in the hole! That’s it! Let’s go!”
“Corporal, what’s your book about? Hey, watch your rifle.”
“Reiben, think about the poor bastard’s mother.”
“Yes, sir. Caparzo, stay still! Captain, can you see him from there? How is he? Where’s he shot, Captain? Captain, can you see him from there? Chest, maybe lung shot.”
“Well, actually, the trick to falling asleep is trying to stay awake. Well, when my mother was an intern, she used to work late through the night, sleep through the day. So the only time that we ever got to talk about anything was when she’d get home. So what I used to do, I used to lie in my bed and try to stay awake as long as I could, but it never worked ’cause the harder I tried, the faster I’d fall asleep.”
“Funny thing is, sometimes she’d come home early, and I’d pretend to be asleep. Yeah. She’s standing in the doorway looking at me. And I would just keep my eyes shut. And I knew she just wanted to find out about my day, that she came home early… just to talk to me. And I wouldn’t move. I’d still pretend to just be asleep. I don’t know why I did that.”
Corporal Upham
“I’m Upham, sir. Yes, sir. Just a slight one in French, but my German’s clean. A touch of Bavarian, sir. Yes, sir. Uh, sir… sir, there are Germans in Neuville. Um, sir, there are a lot of Germans in Neuville. No, sir. Just if you consider I’ve never been in combat. I make maps, and I translate. Yes, sir. It’s just that I haven’t held a weapon since basic training. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Sir, may I br– may I bring my typewriter, sir? Yes, sir. Thank you very much, sir. Uh, no, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.”
“Hey. Oh. Hey. I was just wondering where you’re from, that’s… Caparzo, is it? Got you. Uh, capisce. Sorry. It’s supposed to be about the bonds of brotherhood that develop between soldiers during war.”
“‘Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.’ Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
“What’s ‘FUBAR?’ Never heard of that.”
“Reiben, where’s the captain from? Somebody must know where he’s from, what he did for a living.”
“Reiben… so you don’t even know where he went to school? Montrez-vous! Montrez-vous! Ou sont les allemands? Something about the children. They want us to take the children. Nous ne pouvons pas les prendre avec nous! Mais non! Mais non! Nous ne pouvons pas les prendre avec nous! They think they’ll be safe with us. They think they’ll be safe with us, sir.”
“No! ‘If God be for us, who could be against us?'”
“Captain? Sir? Yeah, I think this is all good for me, sir. ‘War educates the senses, calls into action the will, perfects the physical constitution, brings men into such swift and close collision in critical moments that man measures man.’ You know Emerson, sir?”
“So where are you from, Captain? What’d you do before the war? You know, I think it’s around 300, sir. Well, if that’s the way you feel, sir, I feel it’s my duty under your command to suggest that we wait until it gets up to a thousand, sir. 500? Yes, sir. Yes, sir.”
Lieutenant Colonel Anderson
“We expected 32 tanks on the beach. 27 didn’t make it. I understand your situation, but if we don’t off-load those Shermans by 0600, we’re gonna have an entire division stuck at Carentan with its pants around its ankles. Well, you let me know. Have Charlie Company hold at Vierville until we can get some armor up there.”
“Airborne was supposed to win an open door for the rest of us. Instead they misdropped, scattered all their sticks into the wind. What’s your situation?”
“Resistance? What about our casualties? It was a tough assignment. That’s why you got it. John… I’ve got another one for you. This one’s straight from the top.”
Sergeant Hill
“Flash! You guys are a sight for sore eyes. How many are you? What do you mean, sir? Who? Ryan? What for? I don’t know. Maybe with a mixed unit on the other side of town. It’s hard to get to. The Germans punched a hole in our center a few hours ago, cut us right in two. What’s his name again? Goldman, get a runner up here. Come on. Jonesy, make a hole up there! We got stopped by some intense rifle action from the eastward. The Germans have been reinforcing two regiments all day. The streets have been quiet for about 45 minutes. Most of the German fire now is concentrated to the westward.”
“That’s Dagwood Dusseldorf, our friendly neighborhood morale officer. Cover! They know we’re in direct contact. They’re gonna single out the runners.”
“Boyd! Try again. See if you can let Captain Hamill know we’re coming. Uh, next block’s got 2-story buildings both sides of the street. And then there’s a square with good cover on the left. Hastings, Goldman, up front! Let’s go.”
“Past the end of the block to the left, those are the gates to the square.”
“My ankles are killing me, man. I’m gonna need a wheelchair before this war is over. Ow! That’s it. Oh, my God. Got ankles like an old woman. Like an old… ow! God.”
“God damn it! Where’d that come from? Damn it, stay down! What’s the matter with you? Am I gonna take care of you if you get hit? Huh? Get that 30 up the street!”
“Yes, sir. Thunder! Hey, guys, we’re looking for Captain Hamill. Across the square. Go easy. Watch for snipers. All right. Jimmy T., go find Captain Hamill, bring him in here.”
“How the hell should I know? Would you just go look, please? Thank you, you moron. All right. You guys just… flake out here for a while. Ohh. Let me get this goddamn hitchhiker out of my boot.”
“Clear down! Yeah. Charlie, I think. Yeah.”
Captain Hamill
“Clear up! Clear up! Fred Hamill, Pathfinders 101st. How was the road in? Lieutenant, redeploy that bazooka to the right side of the road. And get Ryan up here. At ease. Captain Miller, 2nd Rangers. He wants a worth with you.”
“I’m so sorry, James. I can’t tell you how much. Lieutenant.”
“What unit’s your Ryan in? The guy with the broken foot, he’s 5-0-6, right?”
“How about a nice comfy church? What have you heard? How’s it all falling together? That guy’s overrated. You got to take Caen, so you can take Saint-Lo. Valognes, you got Cherbourg. Paris, you got Berlin.”
“We sure as hell could use you around here, but I understand what you’re doing. Yeah. I got a couple of brothers myself. Good luck. No, I mean it. Find him. Get him home.”
Private Ryan
“Sir, Private Ryan reporting as ordered. Oh, my God, my brothers are dead. I was gonna take ’em fishing when we got home. How– how did they die? No, that can’t be. They’re both… that… that can’t be. My brothers are still in grammar school. Yeah. James Frederick Ryan, Minnesota. Well, does that– does that mean my brothers are OK? Are you sure that they’re OK though? How do you know? How can you be sure? How do you know the foul-up isn’t that his brothers are OK and that– I just wrote them a letter before I left. I got to get home. I got to get home right now. I want to go home.”
Paratrooper Oliver
“Ryan? Don’t know– man! Just inside of Vierville. You got me, sir. C-47 took heavy fire. Pilot went crazy trying to get out of there, turning every which way, took more fire in the drop, got messy. I ended up here. I haven’t seen a single guy from my stick, sir. God knows where they are. No, sir, but I know Baker Company had the same rally point as us “
French Village
“Les americaines! Les voila! Ils arrivent! Ils viennent nous sauver!”
“Nous sommes la! Viens par ici!”
“Sergeant, Hill, our relief showed up. Runner!”
“Backtrack, copy? Over. They’re still jamming us.”
“Ne tirez pas! On est francais!”
“On n’est pas armes! Pourquoi tirez? Mais baissez vos fusils! On est francais! Ca vas pas! Ils sont partout! Il faut vous emmener les enfants! Jacqueline! Jacqueline! Jacqueline! Mama!”
“Cherie, il faut surtout pas bouger! Jacqueline! Jacqueline!”
“Flash! Come on in. Somewhere down there, across the square. Go easy. Watch for snipers.”
“What? Up there?”
“Yes, sir! Ryan! Ryan, front and center! Ryan!”
Normandy Beach
“Clear the Ramp! 30 seconds! God be with you! Open murder holes!”
“Jesus. Thank you–“
“I said, what the hell do we do now, sir?”
“What’s the rallying point?”
“Sir, I’m staying! This is all we got between us and the almighty!”
“Mama! Mama! Aaaaah!”
“10rth Medical Battalion, sir! Here to set up field operations!”
“Aaaaah! I’m hit! Get me out of here! I’m hit low. God!”
“Navy Beach Battalion, sir. I gotta clear these obstacles, makes holes for the tanks. Orders, sir. You go somewhere else. I’m clearing this one!”
“Aaaaah!”
“You are, sir!”
“Nobody’s where they’re supposed to be.”
“We got the leftovers from Fox Company, Able Company and George Company! Plus we got some navy demo guys and a beachmaster!”
“Move on to somebody you can help.”
“They’re killing us! We don’t have a fucking chance, and that ain’t fair!”
“Grenades, grenades! Get ’em over here!”
“One more. Give me one more.”
“Oh, my God, it hurts! I’m gonna die! Oh, my God! Oh, Jesus! Oh, my God!”
“God! God, help me!”
“Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!”
“Inspected. Morphine. Routine. Priority. He’s gone.”
“O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee. O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee. I detest my sins for having offended thee, O Lord. Listen to me, Lord.”
“Don’t shoot! Let ’em burn!”
“I’ll give you a ‘comrade,’ you son of a bitch! Lie down!”
“What? What? I’m sorry, I can’t understand what you’re saying.”
“What’d he say? What’d he say?”
“‘Look, I washed for supper.’ Ha ha ha ha!”
“Go on in, Captain. Yes, sir. Runner!”
“Attention! Updated as of 0830 this morning. This is the 12th S.S. Panzer. These are the two axes that advance south.”
General George C. Marshall
“God damn it. Well, any, uh, contact with the fourth son, James?”
“I have a letter here… written a long time ago to a Mrs. Bixby in Boston. So bear with me.”
“‘Dear Madam, I have been shown in the files of the war department a statement of the adjutant general of Massachussets that you… are the mother of five… sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine… that would attempt to beguile you from the grief… of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found… in the thanks of the republic… they died to save. I pray that our heavenly father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost… and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.'”
“‘Yours sincerely and respectfully… Abraham Lincoln.'”
“That boy is alive. We are gonna send somebody to find him… and we are gonna get him the hell out of there.”
Colonel Bryce
“Yes? ‘Sean Ryan.’ ‘Peter Ryan.’ ‘Daniel… Ryan.’ Is he alive? Come with me.”
“All four of them were in the same company in the 29th division, but we split them up after the Sullivan brothers died n the Juneau. No, sir. He was dropped about 15 miles inland near Neuville. Yes, sir.”
War Department Colonel
“But that’s still deep behind German lines. Now, mac there is no you can know where in the hell he was dropped. First reports out of Ike’s people at SHAEF said the 101st is scattered all to hell and gone. There’s misdrops all over Normandy. Assuming Private Ryan even survived the jump, he could be anywhere. In fact, he’s probably K.I.A. And frankly, sir, we go sending some sort of rescue mission, flat-hatting through swars of German reinforcements all along our axis of advance, they’re gonna be K.I.A., too. Yes, sir.”
War Department Captain
“Colonel, I’ve got something you should know about. These two men died in Normandy. This one at Omaha Beach. This man at Utah. This man was killed last week in New Guinea. The three men are brothers, sir. I’ve just learned that this afternoon their mother’s going to be getting all three telegrams. That’s not all. There’s a fourth brother, the youngest. He parachuted in with the 101st Airborne night before the invasion. He’s somewhere in Normandy. We don’t know where. We don’t know. Yes, sir.”
Death Letters
“‘Dear Mr. Brian Boyd, no doubt by now you have received full information…'”
“‘Dear Mrs. Jensen…'”
“‘…about the untimely death of your son.'”
“‘…no words of mine can ever relieve the grief…'”
“‘Our outfit has felt his loss tremendously.'”
“‘He was a fine soldier, and he believed very strongly in…'”
“‘It’s not secret anymore… that we were involved in one of the most important operations of this war.'”
“‘Al was the one who held us all together. He was always the first to volunteer and the last…'”
“‘… came to a clearing near a road where over 4,000 troops had passed.'”
“‘Your husband served in a combat unit whose dangerous duty is to place itself beyond…'”
“‘…which we all cherish and hold so dear.'”
“‘The loss of Lee and others like him is a distinct blow to the regiment.'”
“‘I fully understand your desire to learn as much as possible regarding the circumstances leading to his death.'”
Ryan’s Family
“Dad.”