DD316 ‘Pvt. James Francis Ryan’

Private First Class James Francis Ryan is an American paratrooper who served in Baker Company, 1st Battalion 506th P.I.R. of the 101st Airborne Division during the Normandy Invasion.

He was the youngest brother of 4 in the Ryan family. Already his three older brothers have been reported killed in combat when it is decided, back in Washington, to somehow find Ryan and pull him out of action.

In the movie “Saving Pvt. Ryan”, Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) leads a squad of US Army Rangers deep behind the German lines to try to find Ryan.

After several false starts they eventually meet him in a field outside the fictional town of Ramelle in Normandy just after he has destroyed a German halftrack with a bazooka.

This is how we have portrayed him... helmet in one hand, bazooka in the other.