274 SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
Jackson (Barry Pepper), medic Irwin Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), and T/5 Timothy
Upham ( Jeremy Davies), a cartographer and interpreter—to find the missing
soldier. Once in Neuville- au- Plain, they connect with the 101st Airborne Divi-
sion. Caparzo is shot and killed by a German sniper, who is in turn killed by
Jackson. Stopping later for a short break while a runner goes to search for Capt.
Hamill (Ted Danson) to ask him about Ryan, Sgt. Hill (Paul Giamatti), who briefly
joins Miller’s men, inadvertently knocks over an unstable brick wall, revealing a
group of German soldiers. A frantic standoff between the two armed parties
ensues but comes to an abrupt end by the timely arrival of Hamill and another
paratrooper, both of whom unload their automatic weapons into the unsuspect-
ing Germans. Soon thereafter, Miller’s squad locates a Pvt. James Ryan, but they
soon figure out that he is not the person they’re looking for. Soon after, they
come across one of Ryan’s friends, who informs the unit that Ryan is defending
a bridge in Ramelle. Not wanting to waste an opportunity, Miller opts to overtake a
German machine- gun position en route to Ramelle. The men protest, but Miller
insists. Wade dies in the ensuing firefight. Miller decides against killing one of the
German survivors, nicknamed “Steamboat Willie” ( Joerg Stadler), and instead
sends him away with instructions to surrender to the next Allied troops that cross
his path. Losing confidence in Miller’s leadership for not circumventing the
machine- gun nest, Reiben, still unsettled over the decision to infiltrate the GermanCapt. Miller (Tom Hanks, left) confers with Pvt. Ryan (Matt Damon) in a still from
Steven Spielberg’s World War II epic, Saving Private Ryan (1998). (DreamWorks
Distribution/Photofest)