Captain Miller's Squad

"Ryan...earn this. Earn it."

- John Miller

The men of the 2nd Rangers Battalion were part of the spearhead that pushed into the beaches at Normandy during the D-Day invasions on June 6, 1944. Captain John H. Miller and his men fought savagely and secured the beachhead before taking control of the German defenses that sprawled across the limestone cliffs above. However, when the three brothers of Private James Francis Ryan turn up killed in action, orders directly from the top are issued to Miller and his men to probe through the massive Allied army and find Ryan to bring him home.

Arriving first in the village of Neuville, Miller's Squad find the wrong James Ryan and suffer casualties from a German sniper. Continuing on, Miller's Squad discover Ryan's regiment but not him, and the commanding officer reveals that Ryan and his men had been tasked with defending a strategically important bridge in the town of Ramelle.

The squad heads out, and with the misgivings of his team, Miller orders his squad to assault a German machine gun nest, and their medic is killed in combat. After this disasterous attack, loyalty temporarily splinters as Private Reiben reveals his intentions to desert. Despite a heated argument with Sergeant Horvath, Miller manages to diffuse the situation via revealing his background, which had been knowledge to no one prior to this revelation.

Miller's Squad finally arrives in Ramelle, where they meet Ryan and his small squad. Ryan is determined to see through this mission, remarking that he intends to stay with the only brothers he has left. Miller's Squad joins together with Ryan's, and the group manages to hold off against several waves of German soldiers. Despite their best efforts, all of Miller's and Ryan's squads are killed with the exception of Private Reiben, T/5 Upham, and Private Ryan. Before dying, Miller tells Ryan to go home and earn the loss of his men. Several years later, Ryan- now an old man- visits the graves of his brief comrades-in-arms and salutes his fallen brothers.