Saving Private Ryan is incredibly realistic in most every way, with a very few exceptions...such as bullets not being able to kill you that far underwater, and flamethrowers not really exploding that way in 1944. One thing to know, pay no mind at all to that man who took off his helmet on the beach at 6:00 and then got shot in the head...that next shot would have killed him even if he had kept his helmet on. The helmets of WW2 would almost never stop a bullet, except under very very rare circumstances. The movie is not a true story, and it differs from the actual history of D-Day in many ways...but the basic plot is loosely based on the 4 Niland Brothers, one of whom served with the 101st Airborne Division. However, when 3 Nilands were reported dead, no mission was sent behind enemy lines to get the last brother, and it turned out that one brother that had been thought dead had actually only been captured. The 4th brother was found and notified by an Army Chaplain, and was sent home, but as far as the brothers none of what happened in this movie happened in real life. There really was a Company C of the 2nd Rangers that landed on Omaha Beach, but they were commanded by Captain Ralph Goranson, and they did not land quite where it was shown in the film. Probably the most important historical thing that Spielberg got wrong is that he had the boats that carried the Rangers to the beach being driven by Americans...they were not. On D-Day, the boats that carried the US Rangers to the beach were driven by UK sailors of the Royal Navy. There are many other things in the film that are not accurate to the real history of D-Day, but that one really fails to honor some of the men that fought and died at Omaha Beach, so it is definitely the one most worth noting. The location at the beginning with the French and US flags is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial...located in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France. Most of the US servicemen killed in the 2 and a half month long Normandy Campaign are buried in this cemetery...a total of 9388 burials. Notification of next of kin was done by telegram, and they were delivered by normal channels...either by Western Union or by somebody contracted to deliver them. The military only sent an officer to give notifications of multiple deaths, so Mrs. Ryan knew something was terribly wrong when she saw that the Army had sent somebody out to her AND they had her local Priest/Minister/Pastor with them. The scenes where we see all those women typing letters, those are not notifications...those are letters from commanding officers, which are not always written, but were quite often. One of the main reasons that those letters are transcribed, or at least are checked, is so that sensitive information can be censored out of them...it is a little known fact that all mail that was sent home by US military people were censored for secret or sensitive information...and all the letters that people sent to the troops were checked and potentially censored as well. So here is the thing about attacking that machine gun, if we were talking about real life...it was a huge mistake by Miller to attack that machine gun, and almost surely a violation of his orders. If he was really ordered by General George Marshall to go and get Ryan, then his orders would have been to make that his priority...even over winning the war...and his job would have been to avoid side missions that could prevent him from saving Private Ryan. And, just to be clear, the US Army would never send a mission to go find a single soldier, unless they knew for sure that he was alive AND where to find him. It would be insanely wasteful to take such a huge risk with all those other lives under the circumstances shown in the film. Finally, a quick note about the numbers...the US landed about 34k troops on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944...about 2000 men were killed on that day to take that beach. Overall, the Allies landed a bit over 156k troops on D-Day including all 5 landing beaches...the total number of casualties was 10,500 including the dead, wounded, captured and missing, with the total number killed being about 4400...of that 4400 number 2501 Americans were killed in the amphibious landings on D-day. Those numbers do not include the Airborne forces that came in before the landings.
This is going to sound cliché, but I don't think you understand how much I ENJOY comments like this. Thank you for this breakdown and the interesting facts! I love them.
Every Omaha Beach landing that I have ever seen, including SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, leaves out the men that put up the Barrage Balloons that Captain Miller sees at the end of the battle for the Beach. The men of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion landed on Omaha right along with everyone else. They were an all Black group of men that shared the same risks as everyone else. One man in particular stood out that day. He was Cpl. Waverly Woodson a medic on one of the landing crafts. As his landing craft approached the Beach it hit a mine killing and wounding several of the men. Woodson was hit by shrapnel in the groin and back but that didn't stop him from doing his job. He patched himself up as best he could and began treating the wounded. It did not matter to him the color of their skin, he was going to help all the wounded. He set up a temporary field hospital and started treating all the wounded. On 2 separate occasions he rescued 3 wounded men from the surf. Bullets were flying all around him ss well ss explosions from German artillery, but that didn't stop Woodson from doing his job. The Army estimated that Woodson had provided aid to over 200 wounded men during the battle before collapsing from exhaustion and loss of blood. Corporal Waverly Woodson received the Distinguished Service Cross America's second highest honor for courage under fire and a Purple Heart. Some how, woke Hollywood seems to ignore the contribution of Black soldiers like the men of the 320th that fought right along with the other soldiers. Barrage Balloons may not have been sexy for movie directors and screen writers but they were a necessity to combat operations. While we're at it, let's give s shout out to the men of the Red Ball Express that drove the trucks from Cherbourg to the Siegfried Line and suffer casualties from accidents as they drove long hours over hazardous roads. And let's not forget the men of the 761st Tank Battalion, aka The Black Panthers, that were personally picked by General George Patton for his 3rd. Army. I'm s retired US History teacher and never taught Black History during Black History. I taught everyone's history as it happened. The United States of America's History is a woven fabric of many people. To teach it one thread at a time destroys the fabric. It is the invention of well meaning liberals but it shoulded be ended. It is also the lazy man's way of teaching. It also leaves out true heroes of American History like 14 year old Sybil Ludding who during the Revolution road miles to warn the Patriots that the British were on their way. Her ride was more spectacular than Paul Revere's. Every Black History month curriculum I ever saw mentions Crispus Attucks as a hero when in fact he was a member of a mob that threw rocks at British Soldiers in what became the Boston Massacre. The curriculums I've seen leave out Peter Salem, who stopped the British charge up Breed's Hill by killing British Major Pitcairn. On the British side we have Col. Tye, an exslave that used guerilla tactics against the colonial rebels. The British promised freedom to any slave that joined their army. The Patriots offered the same but most slaves didn't believe their masters would grant them their freedom. I could go on but my soap box is getting worn and I am getting old. BTW, I am a conservative politically and a Caucasian Hispanic ethnically but I am 100% American.❤
My grandfather was an Army combat vet of WWII, and got shot by a German sniper, but he lived to make it home. He was the kindest and funniest man I've ever known. I'm an Army combat vet of the first Gulf War, and my son is an Army combat vet of the Iraq War, and we both know my grandfather saw a lot worse than either of us did.
8:48 - German translation: “Please don't shoot me! I am not German, I am Czech, I didn't kill anyone! I am Czech." Czechoslovakia, like France, was invaded and conquered by Germany in 1939. These soldiers were most likely conscripted into the German army by force.
The breakdown of US casualties was 1465 dead, 3184 wounded, 1928 missing and 26 captured. Of the total US figure, 2499 casualties were from the US airborne troops (238 of them being deaths). The casualties at Utah Beach were relatively light: 197, including 60 missing. However, the US 1st and 29th Divisions together suffered around 2000 casualties at Omaha Beach. The total German casualties on D-Day are not known, but are estimated as being between 4000 and 9000 men. Naval losses for June 1944 included 24 warships and 35 merchantmen or auxiliaries sunk, and a further 120 vessels damaged. Over 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or went missing during the Battle of Normandy. This figure includes over 209,000 Allied casualties, with nearly 37,000 dead amongst the ground forces and a further 16,714 deaths amongst the Allied air forces. Of the Allied casualties, 83,045 were from 21st Army Group (British, Canadian and Polish ground forces), 125,847 from the US ground forces. The losses of the German forces during the Battle of Normandy can only be estimated. Roughly 200,000 German troops were killed or wounded. The Allies also captured 200,000 prisoners of war (not included in the 425,000 total, above). During the fighting around the Falaise Pocket (August 1944) alone, the Germans suffered losses of around 90,000, including prisoners. Today, twenty-seven war cemeteries hold the remains of over 110,000 dead from both sides: 77,866 German, 9386 American, 17,769 British, 5002 Canadian and 650 Poles. Between 15,000 and 20,000 French civilians were killed, mainly as a result of Allied bombing. Thousands more fled their homes to escape the fighting.
Band of Brothers is definitely a series I have to watch. I'll add it to my list, but I might not get to it until around January because of a few movies and shows I have planned. It's on the way, though. Thanks for the recommendation!
Thzts why all these guys who fought and died in this War against Nazis my dad fought in this war only in Italy,He never talked about it but he was awarded a Bronze star and a Purple heart,i cant imagine the things they saw and did This is why they are called the GREATEST GENERATION OF ALL TIME,THEN AND STILL ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST FOREVER WILL BE
Thank you and I agree. I can't imagine all of the things our soldiers have been through so we're able to live peacefully. Nothing but respect for anyone that has served.
@@iKvetch558 The reasons for the heavy losses on Omaha were because the pre-bombing campaign to soften up the German resistance overshot their mark and left the German positions intact. The other issue was that the waters on Omaha beach were rough that day and the tanks with floating devices that came with the troops all sank before they got to the beach leaving them nothing to hide behind when they advanced forward.
@@realitycheck5376 Interesting thing I found out about recently is that at the last minute, the targeting of the 8th Air Force bomb drops was moved on the orders of a Colonel due to concerns that the bombs might hit Allied troops, and that was probably the biggest single reason so many of them completely missed the German fortifications. I heard that on a Live show on the WW2TV channel, and I will try to find that video and post it here, if I can.
@@iKvetch558 Now that you mention it I believe I remember hearing that. My father was in WWII. Just like Private Ryan, he was a bazooka man and I believe he may have been in that very fight in France that these guys were in. That type of fighting was called "In house fighting" as was the case with Mellish. My father was in a building like that and a German tank shot into the building killing the 6 or 7 other guys my father was with. He got blown out of a window and survived with shrapnel wounds.
Oh yeah, one more thing I don’t believe a lot of of these reaction channels I think most of these people I’ve seen these movies. They just act like they haven’t.
Those German machine guns are called MG-42’s our troops nicknamed them hitlers buzzsaw because of how fast they could fire 1200 rounds a minute which is ridiculous even by todays standards! In short I’m right with you pukin from nerves getting ready to run towards those! The idea was just overwhelm with numbers and it was worse for the Russians they weren’t ready because they had a peace treaty hitler broke, they’d literally send in entire platoons with only half the rifles needed with the expectation that plenty would be laying around soon and they didn’t believe in retreat if you tried to run back you’d be shot by your own guys😮that way everyone knew you better follow orders! Not surprisingly the Russians caught up and won but had more casualties than any other few countries combined, they lost more in Stalingrad than we did in the entire war!! WW2 was sheer insanity
Saving Private Ryan is incredibly realistic in most every way, with a very few exceptions...such as bullets not being able to kill you that far underwater, and flamethrowers not really exploding that way in 1944. One thing to know, pay no mind at all to that man who took off his helmet on the beach at 6:00 and then got shot in the head...that next shot would have killed him even if he had kept his helmet on. The helmets of WW2 would almost never stop a bullet, except under very very rare circumstances.
The movie is not a true story, and it differs from the actual history of D-Day in many ways...but the basic plot is loosely based on the 4 Niland Brothers, one of whom served with the 101st Airborne Division. However, when 3 Nilands were reported dead, no mission was sent behind enemy lines to get the last brother, and it turned out that one brother that had been thought dead had actually only been captured. The 4th brother was found and notified by an Army Chaplain, and was sent home, but as far as the brothers none of what happened in this movie happened in real life.
There really was a Company C of the 2nd Rangers that landed on Omaha Beach, but they were commanded by Captain Ralph Goranson, and they did not land quite where it was shown in the film. Probably the most important historical thing that Spielberg got wrong is that he had the boats that carried the Rangers to the beach being driven by Americans...they were not. On D-Day, the boats that carried the US Rangers to the beach were driven by UK sailors of the Royal Navy. There are many other things in the film that are not accurate to the real history of D-Day, but that one really fails to honor some of the men that fought and died at Omaha Beach, so it is definitely the one most worth noting.
The location at the beginning with the French and US flags is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial...located in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France. Most of the US servicemen killed in the 2 and a half month long Normandy Campaign are buried in this cemetery...a total of 9388 burials.
Notification of next of kin was done by telegram, and they were delivered by normal channels...either by Western Union or by somebody contracted to deliver them. The military only sent an officer to give notifications of multiple deaths, so Mrs. Ryan knew something was terribly wrong when she saw that the Army had sent somebody out to her AND they had her local Priest/Minister/Pastor with them.
The scenes where we see all those women typing letters, those are not notifications...those are letters from commanding officers, which are not always written, but were quite often. One of the main reasons that those letters are transcribed, or at least are checked, is so that sensitive information can be censored out of them...it is a little known fact that all mail that was sent home by US military people were censored for secret or sensitive information...and all the letters that people sent to the troops were checked and potentially censored as well.
So here is the thing about attacking that machine gun, if we were talking about real life...it was a huge mistake by Miller to attack that machine gun, and almost surely a violation of his orders. If he was really ordered by General George Marshall to go and get Ryan, then his orders would have been to make that his priority...even over winning the war...and his job would have been to avoid side missions that could prevent him from saving Private Ryan.
And, just to be clear, the US Army would never send a mission to go find a single soldier, unless they knew for sure that he was alive AND where to find him. It would be insanely wasteful to take such a huge risk with all those other lives under the circumstances shown in the film.
Finally, a quick note about the numbers...the US landed about 34k troops on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944...about 2000 men were killed on that day to take that beach. Overall, the Allies landed a bit over 156k troops on D-Day including all 5 landing beaches...the total number of casualties was 10,500 including the dead, wounded, captured and missing, with the total number killed being about 4400...of that 4400 number 2501 Americans were killed in the amphibious landings on D-day. Those numbers do not include the Airborne forces that came in before the landings.
This is going to sound cliché, but I don't think you understand how much I ENJOY comments like this. Thank you for this breakdown and the interesting facts! I love them.
Every Omaha Beach landing that I have ever seen, including SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, leaves out the men that put up the Barrage Balloons that Captain Miller sees at the end of the battle for the Beach. The men of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion landed on Omaha right along with everyone else. They were an all Black group of men that shared the same risks as everyone else. One man in particular stood out that day. He was Cpl. Waverly Woodson a medic on one of the landing crafts. As his landing craft approached the Beach it hit a mine killing and wounding several of the men. Woodson was hit by shrapnel in the groin and back but that didn't stop him from doing his job. He patched himself up as best he could and began treating the wounded. It did not matter to him the color of their skin, he was going to help all the wounded. He set up a temporary field hospital and started treating all the wounded. On 2 separate occasions he rescued 3 wounded men from the surf. Bullets were flying all around him ss well ss explosions from German artillery, but that didn't stop Woodson from doing his job. The Army estimated that Woodson had provided aid to over 200 wounded men during the battle before collapsing from exhaustion and loss of blood. Corporal Waverly Woodson received the Distinguished Service Cross America's second highest honor for courage under fire and a Purple Heart.
Some how, woke Hollywood seems to ignore the contribution of Black soldiers like the men of the 320th that fought right along with the other soldiers. Barrage Balloons may not have been sexy for movie directors and screen writers but they were a necessity to combat operations. While we're at it, let's give s shout out to the men of the Red Ball Express that drove the trucks from Cherbourg to the Siegfried Line and suffer casualties from accidents as they drove long hours over hazardous roads. And let's not forget the men of the 761st Tank Battalion, aka The Black Panthers, that were personally picked by General George Patton for his 3rd. Army.
I'm s retired US History teacher and never taught Black History during Black History. I taught everyone's history as it happened. The United States of America's History is a woven fabric of many people. To teach it one thread at a time destroys the fabric. It is the invention of well meaning liberals but it shoulded be ended. It is also the lazy man's way of teaching. It also leaves out true heroes of American History like 14 year old Sybil Ludding who during the Revolution road miles to warn the Patriots that the British were on their way. Her ride was more spectacular than Paul Revere's. Every Black History month curriculum I ever saw mentions Crispus Attucks as a hero when in fact he was a member of a mob that threw rocks at British Soldiers in what became the Boston Massacre. The curriculums I've seen leave out Peter Salem, who stopped the British charge up Breed's Hill by killing British Major Pitcairn. On the British side we have Col. Tye, an exslave that used guerilla tactics against the colonial rebels. The British promised freedom to any slave that joined their army. The Patriots offered the same but most slaves didn't believe their masters would grant them their freedom. I could go on but my soap box is getting worn and I am getting old. BTW, I am a conservative politically and a Caucasian Hispanic ethnically but I am 100% American.❤
I'm a little sick so I apologize for the stuffiness in this video 😆. I hope you all are doing well and enjoyed this reaction. Take care!
My grandfather was an Army combat vet of WWII, and got shot by a German sniper, but he lived to make it home. He was the kindest and funniest man I've ever known. I'm an Army combat vet of the first Gulf War, and my son is an Army combat vet of the Iraq War, and we both know my grandfather saw a lot worse than either of us did.
Respect to you and your family for serving! Thank you! I'm glad you and your family were able to make it home safe.
8:48 - German translation: “Please don't shoot me! I am not German, I am Czech, I didn't kill anyone! I am Czech."
Czechoslovakia, like France, was invaded and conquered by Germany in 1939. These soldiers were most likely conscripted into the German army by force.
The routine "you must watch Band of Brothers" comment. Harvey Weinstein literally cost this film an Oscar.
The breakdown of US casualties was 1465 dead, 3184 wounded, 1928 missing and 26 captured. Of the total US figure, 2499 casualties were from the US airborne troops (238 of them being deaths). The casualties at Utah Beach were relatively light: 197, including 60 missing. However, the US 1st and 29th Divisions together suffered around 2000 casualties at Omaha Beach.
The total German casualties on D-Day are not known, but are estimated as being between 4000 and 9000 men.
Naval losses for June 1944 included 24 warships and 35 merchantmen or auxiliaries sunk, and a further 120 vessels damaged.
Over 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or went missing during the Battle of Normandy. This figure includes over 209,000 Allied casualties, with nearly 37,000 dead amongst the ground forces and a further 16,714 deaths amongst the Allied air forces. Of the Allied casualties, 83,045 were from 21st Army Group (British, Canadian and Polish ground forces), 125,847 from the US ground forces. The losses of the German forces during the Battle of Normandy can only be estimated. Roughly 200,000 German troops were killed or wounded. The Allies also captured 200,000 prisoners of war (not included in the 425,000 total, above). During the fighting around the Falaise Pocket (August 1944) alone, the Germans suffered losses of around 90,000, including prisoners.
Today, twenty-seven war cemeteries hold the remains of over 110,000 dead from both sides: 77,866 German, 9386 American, 17,769 British, 5002 Canadian and 650 Poles.
Between 15,000 and 20,000 French civilians were killed, mainly as a result of Allied bombing. Thousands more fled their homes to escape the fighting.
Band of Brothers next
Band of Brothers is definitely a series I have to watch. I'll add it to my list, but I might not get to it until around January because of a few movies and shows I have planned. It's on the way, though. Thanks for the recommendation!
@@DmanWatches couldn't recommend band of brothers more, cant wait to see you watch it & ik you'll love it
I just subscribed because you said you were a country boy. Just the kind of guy I admire, since I'm a country girl.
Thzts why all these guys who fought and died in this War against Nazis my dad fought in this war only in Italy,He never talked about it but he was awarded a Bronze star and a Purple heart,i cant imagine the things they saw and did This is why they are called the GREATEST GENERATION OF ALL TIME,THEN AND STILL ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST FOREVER WILL BE
Your reaction was just fine ❤
Don't apologise for recognising patterns, it is a sign of great intelligence.
It's a cool reaction, and one movie the younger generations should be watching
Thank you and I agree. I can't imagine all of the things our soldiers have been through so we're able to live peacefully. Nothing but respect for anyone that has served.
It's estimated that 4400 troops died on D-day.
True...but that is for all 5 landing beaches. On Omaha Beach, the total number killed was 2000...just to be clear.
@@iKvetch558 The reasons for the heavy losses on Omaha were because the pre-bombing campaign to soften up the German resistance overshot their mark and left the German positions intact. The other issue was that the waters on Omaha beach were rough that day and the tanks with floating devices that came with the troops all sank before they got to the beach leaving them nothing to hide behind when they advanced forward.
@@realitycheck5376 Interesting thing I found out about recently is that at the last minute, the targeting of the 8th Air Force bomb drops was moved on the orders of a Colonel due to concerns that the bombs might hit Allied troops, and that was probably the biggest single reason so many of them completely missed the German fortifications.
I heard that on a Live show on the WW2TV channel, and I will try to find that video and post it here, if I can.
@@iKvetch558 Now that you mention it I believe I remember hearing that. My father was in WWII. Just like Private Ryan, he was a bazooka man and I believe he may have been in that very fight in France that these guys were in. That type of fighting was called "In house fighting" as was the case with Mellish. My father was in a building like that and a German tank shot into the building killing the 6 or 7 other guys my father was with. He got blown out of a window and survived with shrapnel wounds.
The forest reaction was great this one will be too
Much appreciated, man!
It's estimated that 4400 Allied troops died on D-day.
You need to react to Band of Brothers. Unlike this, it's based on a true story. It follows E Company from Dday till the end of WWII.
band of brothers NOW please
Oh yeah, one more thing I don’t believe a lot of of these reaction channels I think most of these people I’ve seen these movies. They just act like they haven’t.
Ya sound is awful. Not a good reaction mate. Just saying
Those German machine guns are called MG-42’s our troops nicknamed them hitlers buzzsaw because of how fast they could fire 1200 rounds a minute which is ridiculous even by todays standards! In short I’m right with you pukin from nerves getting ready to run towards those! The idea was just overwhelm with numbers and it was worse for the Russians they weren’t ready because they had a peace treaty hitler broke, they’d literally send in entire platoons with only half the rifles needed with the expectation that plenty would be laying around soon and they didn’t believe in retreat if you tried to run back you’d be shot by your own guys😮that way everyone knew you better follow orders! Not surprisingly the Russians caught up and won but had more casualties than any other few countries combined, they lost more in Stalingrad than we did in the entire war!! WW2 was sheer insanity