Those that did find allied rallying points were then reassigned to various other missions. So was the case of PVT Ryan. Miller and his squad encountered heavy fire along the way in villages, as well as along the countryside. Their first enemy encounter on this mission was at a heavily bombed village where they meet up with men from the 101st Airborne Division. It is here that they begin to breathe a sigh of relief. PVT Ryan was here.or so they thought. This was the wrong one. They then resumed their search. They then reach the rallying point for the 101st, only to be handed a bag of dog tags to be rummaged through. In desperation, Miller begins calling out for PVT Ryan, when a deafened soldier is brought to him and informs him that Ryan was on a mission to hold a the bridge at Rimmel. Miller's squad then comes across a radar site still manned by the Germans and is fired upon. They then, in the field, encounter the unit that Ryan was reassigned to and brief him on the fate of his brothers and that he is to return home.
Although the search for PVT Ryan is fictional, the idea is based on fact. During WWII, there was, in fact, a soldier that was extracted from the war due to heavy loss in his family. However, he had lost two brothers, and one was missing in action and returned home. .
Despite the overwhelming loss of his three brothers, PVT Ryan felt compelled to stay and protect the bridge. The troops were low on ammunition, and had very little defense against the artillery of the Germans. They relied on diversion. The idea was to lure the German panzers into the middle of the town and create a block. They used a HARE to lure in the tanks, and then used "sticky bombs", which were bombs made by stuffing C4 into socks, caking them with axle grease, and then inserting a fuse to immobilize the panzers. The cowardly ammo runner loses his nerve, in effect, costing the lives of fellow squad members.
