“Are we ready? ” Sarge asked .

“ We’re ready, sir,” Jackson said.

“ All right , then,” Sarge said. “ Get in line."
The men got in line and moved out of the field .
“ Our next stop,” Reiben said , “ is Ramelle.”

Chapter 13 Ramelle

The afternoon sun was hot as the tired men walked through the
tall grass. The land sloped gently to the Merderet River valley and
Ramelle. Although they were only a kilometer away, the men
couldn’t see the river or the bridge that made Ramelle so
important. But they could see the ruins of the village, which had
been completely destroyed by American bombing. Only a few
buildings and a church bell tower had survived .
“ It looks quiet down there,” Sarge commented from the front
—
of the line. “ There aren’t any civilians in sight and I don’t see
anyone from the 101st.”
Miller responded from the back , “ You’ll see the paratroopers
when we reach the bridge, but the citizens of Ramelle have
probably left. It won’t stay quiet much longer.”
Suddenly they heard the sound of an engine behind them and
turned their heads. The sound didn’t surprise them because it was
similar to the sound of farmers’ tractors in the countryside. But
the vehicle coming toward them was not a tractor. It was a
German tank , moving quickly across the field with three groups
of soldiers running along beside it.
The machine gunner on top of the tank began firing as the
squad ran toward town as fast as they could. They jumped into a
ditch , putting themselves below the bullets that hit the grass
along the edge of the ditch .
On the other side of the ditch were railroad tracks , another

77

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ditch, and then the town. Miller realized that if he and his squad
could get over the tracks, they would have good cover and a
chance to fight. They ran across the ditch and were climbing up
the other side when German bullets began hitting the tracks,
forcing them back down.
Then the machine gun was silent.
“ Now!” Miller shouted. “Shoot!”
They began firing back at the Germans, but there were so
many bullets coming at them that they had to stay down. They
fired over the edge, without seeing their target. But they heard
the sound of the tank coming closer and closer . . .
“ Heads down!” somebody shouted.
Miller and his men obeyed as they looked around at each
other, wondering who had given that order. Then they realized
that none of them had; it had come from behind them. Up on the
railroad tracks they could see a huge gun pointing toward the
field . They saw the flash of flame and smoke as a shell went over
them. They heard the sound as it hit the tank and exploded .
Looking over the edge of the ditch , they saw black smoke coming
from the halted tank. The machine gunner had been blown apart.
The German foot soldiers had stopped, too. Suddenly four
American paratroopers rose from the tall grass to the left of the
ditch and began shooting their machine guns at the Germans .
The sound of screaming filled the air as bullets hit them. Then
there was silence.
With relief, the squad looked up behind them at a tall
paratrooper kneeling on the train tracks , looking at them. He was
—
a good-looking kid blond with blue eyes and a serious face.
“ Is everybody OK ? ” he asked . “Was anybody injured? ”
“ Were all OK. No injuries,” Miller said . “ Thanks for saving
our lives. Who are you , son ? ”
“Private First Class Ryan , sir . . . ” He saw the expression on
Miller’s face. “Sir? Is something wrong?”

78
 The five American soldiers in the ditch were staring up at the
man who had saved them with shocked expressions. Then they
—
shook their heads and laughed . Private James F. Ryan twenty,
—
Peyton, Iowa wondered if these men had gone completely
crazy.
The squad climbed out of the ditch and onto the railroad
tracks. This farm boy who had rescued them was not aware of
their purpose here. They had to inform him that he had lost his
brothers to this war.
Private Ryan and several other paratroopers accompanied
Captain Miller and his squad through the ruins of Ramelle.
There were no civilians in this town, and the paratroopers, Miller
observed, looked the same as him and his men: tired , dirty, and
occasionally wounded .
Miller and his men didn’t say anything to Ryan yet. They
—
glanced at him secretly he looked like an Iowa farmer. But they
respected him because he had saved their lives.
The Ramelle bridge over the Merderet was narrow -a brick —
and steel structure on a stone base. Below it, the Merderet was
wide and blue. Both ends of the bridge were blocked with piles
of sand bags that had machine guns on them. Corporal Fred
— —
Henderson twenty-four, St. Louis, Missouri came out from
behind one of these piles. He smiled as he looked at the small
group of tired soldiers walking toward him.
“ If you ’re our assistance, I may have to complain,” he said.
“ I understand , Corporal,” Miller said . “ I need to report to your
commanding officer.”
“ That would have been Colonel Jennings, sir.” And the
corporal nodded toward the river bank , where two dozen
covered bodies waited for a burial squad. Then he said, “ I’m
afraid I’m the highest-ranking officer we have. Henderson, sir.”
“ I ’m Captain Miller.”
“Why did you come here, Captain? ”

79
 “We’re here because of him,” Miller said, pointing to Ryan.
“We’re looking for Private Ryan.”
“Me ? ” Ryan said in amazement. “Why . . . ? ”
Miller was ready to finish this assignment. “Janies Francis
Ryan? Iowa? ”
“Yes, sir,” Ryan said , confused and a little worried. “ Peyton ,
Iowa, sir . . . What’s this about ? ”
“There’s no easy way to say this, soldier,” Miller said, and
paused briefly. “James, your brothers have all been killed in
action .”
“All of them? ” Ryan asked. “ Not all of them . . . there must be
a mistake . . . ”
“ It’s not a mistake, Private. Thomas died on Omaha Beach;
Peter died on Utah Beach; Daniel died more than a week ago in
New Guinea . . . I’m sorry, son .”
The paratrooper said nothing. He thought about the boys he
—
had grown up with brothers he’d fought with and laughed
with and sometimes hated and always loved. They were gone. He
would never see them again. They had disappeared with Captain
Miller’s words.
Removing his helmet , Ryan walked over to the side of the
bridge and leaned against it. Miller and his squad looked down at
their feet, not watching as tears came down Ryan’s cheeks.
Ryan’s paratrooper friends stared at the river.
Soon the private wiped the tears from his eyes, dried his hand
on his pants , and looked toward Miller. “How far did you come
to deliver this message? ”
“We came from Omaha Beach .”
He looked at them. “You came all that way—-just to tell me
this ? Why? What’s this really about, sir? ”
!
Miller walked over to Ryan, who was still leaning against the
bridge. “ They’re sending you home, son. We have orders to bring
you back.”

80
1
If

Ryan’s eyes opened wide. “What do you mean, bring me

back ? ”
“ That’s what our orders are. You’re from Iowa. I don’t have to
tell you about the Sullivans.”
—
Ryan smiled a little and said, “ I understand if I die, I’m bad
publicity.”
“Your mother has suffered enough of a loss . . . You can have
ten minutes to get your equipment and say goodbye to your
friends .”
Ryan was confused. Miller turned to Henderson and asked , “ Is
there any chance that assistance will reach you out here? ”
“ I don’t know, sir.”
“Do your radios work ? ”
“ No, none of them work. We don’t know what’s happening
south of us.”
Then Ryan said, “ I have orders , too, sir.” The private wasn’t
—
leaning against the bridge anymore he was beside Miller,
standing straight. He spoke firmly. “ And they don’t include
abandoning my position.”
Miller sighed and said , “ I understand how you feel. I’d feel the
same way if I were you. But my orders have priority over yours.”
“ I don’t agree, sir.”
It had been a long day, and despite the sympathy he felt for
this kid, Miller was getting angry. “Private, these orders come
directly from General Marshall, Chief of Staff of the United
States Army.”
“ With all respect , sir,” Henderson interrupted boldly, “Private
Ryan is right. General Marshall isn ’t here to judge the situation as
it is now.”
Miller frowned.
“ Sir,” Henderson said , “ our orders are to keep control of this
—
bridge at all costs. Our planes have blown up every bridge
across the Merderet except for two: one atValognes and this one.

81

i ..
r

If the Germans take them, we’ll lose our position and have to go
back .”
“ I didn’t come to take you and your men off this bridge,
Corporal , or out of this town. I don’t envy your job or doubt its
importance , but you’ll have to do it without this man.”
Ryan was shaking his head, no. “ I can’t leave them, sir. Not
until assistance arrives . There aren’t enough of us now . . . ”
“Private, you now have five minutes to get your equipment
and report back to me.”
Ryan was still shaking his head, no. “ Captain, if I leave, what
are they going to ”—
“ Hey, stupid! ” Reiben interrupted angrily. “ Two of us died
trying to find you and get you home! You’d better come with us!
I would.”
The blood left Ryan’s face. He looked at Miller for
confirmation , and Miller nodded. Then he walked over to the
sand bags and sat down.
“What . . . what were their names?” he asked quiedy.
Mellish answered , “Wade and Caparzo.”
Ryan repeated: “ Wade . . . a n d . . . Caparzo.”
The private repeated the names quietly to himself several
—
times , trying to imagine these names as men dead men. After a
few minutes he said to Miller, “Sir, this doesn’t make any sense.
What have I done to deserve special treatment ?”
Miller replied, “This isn’t about you . It’s about politics . . . and
your mother.”
But Ryan didn’t seem to hear Miller. “ I mean , my life isn’t
worth the lives of two others.”
The men in Miller’s squad looked at each other. They were
confused and ashamed to hear Ryan express their own opinions.
The private gestured to the paratroopers around him. “ These

i:
; ! —
guys deserve to go home as much as I do as much as anybody
does . They’ve fought just as long and just as hard.”

82
 “ Is chat what I should tell your mother? ” Miller asked. “Should
I tell her that she can put another flag in her window? ”
Ryan stared at Miller. “My mother didn’t raise us to be
cowards.”
The captain stared at the private. “She didn’t raise you to lose
you .”
“ Well , then , you can tell her this . When you found me, I was
—
with the only brothers I had left the men in my squad. Tell her
that I couldn ’t abandon those brothers. You tell her that . . . and
she’ll understand.”
And the private stared at the captain .
Miller said nothing.
“ I’m not leaving this bridge, sir,” Ryan said. “ If you want to
shoot me for not abandoning my position , do that . . . although
I’m not sure how you’ll explain that to my mother.”
Ryan moved past Miller and his men and went behind the
—
sand bags. He stood there beside a machine gun in his position,
ready to fight .
Miller stared at the river.
“What are your orders, sir? ” Sarge was at his side now. His face
had no expression, but his eyes were bright .
Horvath had spoken softly, and Miller responded softly. This
was a private conversation , and no one attempted to listen.
“Sergeant,” Miller said, “it’s difficult to decide what to do.”
Horvath replied , “ Yes, it is. But the question remains, sir: what
are your orders? Should we arrest, and maybe shoot this man —
the man General Marshall has ordered us to send home to his
mother? We could wound him and carry him back with us; it
wouldn’t slow us down much. And who knows? Maybe we won’t
meet anymore Germans.”
“What are you thinking, Sarge? ”
Sarge smiled. “ I ’ m not sure you really want to know, sir.”
“ Mike, I really do want to know.”

83
 Horvath hesitated, but the expression in Millers eyes showed
that he meant what he said.
“ I don’t know,” Horvath sighed. “ Part of me thinks the kid’s
—
right he doesn’t deserve special treatment, and he doesn’t
deserve to be taken from his position. That would just make
—
things harder for his friends. He wants to stay here, so OK let’s
leave him and go home.”
“ Part of you thinks that.”
“ Yes. The other part thinks . . . what would happen if we
stayed here and gave these guys the assistance that they need?
And what would happen if we survived and left, and Private
Ryan willingly went with us?”
“ Yes?”
“ If we did that, someday we might look back on this and
think that we did the right thing. Saving Private Ryan was the
one decent thing that we were able to do in this awful war.”
Miller thought about that.
—
Sarge continued: “ You said it yourself, Captain maybe if we
do that, we’ll all earn the right to go home.”
The captain sighed and smiled . “ You know, for a minute . . . I
thought I was listening to Wade.”
“ Thanks , sir . . . Anyway, those are my thoughts, sir.”
Horvath walked away and rejoined the squad, giving Miller a
few moments alone to think. They waited for his decision.
Then Miller walked slowly to Corporal Henderson, who
stood near the sand bags. “What's your plan , Corporal? ” he asked.
“My plan , sir? ”
“ How do you plan to prevent the Germans from crossing this
bridge?”
J Henderson gestured. “ Well . . . we have machine guns at both
ends, as you can see . . . and we mined the road through
i
town . . . ”
Miller nodded , considering that. “Machine guns and mines

if 84
 —
will slow them down maybe for a minute. Have you done
anything else ? ”
Henderson seemed embarrassed. “ No, sir.”
“ How do you think the Germans are going to come? When
they come to cross this bridge, they’ll be coming with tanks.”
“ I know that, sir.”
“Maybe your new commanding officer can think of
something better.”
Henderson frowned in confusion . “ Who, sir ? ”
“ Your new commanding officer,” Miller said. “Me.”

Chapter 14 The Bridge

— —
Paratroopers Bill Trask twenty-three, Dallas, Texas and Ray
—
Rici -twenty-two, Tulsa , Oklahoma took Miller to the end of
the bridge near Ramelle, where there was a pile of guns, mines,
grenades , and bullets. Miller inspected the weapons. Sarge was at
— —
his side; the boys of the squad and Ryan were gathered
behind them.
“ Is this everything? ” he asked .
“ That’s everything,” Trask apologized. “ It won’t be much
when the German tanks arrive.”
Sarge looked at the small pile of weapons. “What do you
think, Captain? ”
“ I think the Germans are going to destroy us.”
“ Yes,” Sarge nodded.
Miller pointed. “ What would happen if we could make some
of them go down the main road . . . between those buildings? We
can use the broken bricks and stones to make the passage
narrower. Then they can’t go through it.”
Ryan said , “There aren’t enough bricks and stones to stop a
tank . . . unless we can stop one of the tanks . . . ”

85