In Normandy, France, an elderly veteran visits a World War II memorial and cemetery with his family, and cries at a gravesite. Decades earlier, on June 6, 1944, U.S. soldiers participate in the invasion of Normandy. Under heavy German gunfire, droves of American troops fall to their deaths on Omaha Beach. U.S. Captain John H. Miller and some of his battalion survive the ordeal. Soon after, at U.S. War Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., General Marshall gets the news that three brothers in a family of four sons have died in combat; and that the remaining brother, James Ryan, is currently stationed in Normandy with the 101st Airborne Division. Marshall orders for Private Ryan to be brought home safe to his family. Capt. Miller receives the order and selects seven men to accompany him on the rescue mission. The team includes Sergeant Horvath; Private Reiben; Private Caparzo; Private Mellish; Private Jackson; T/4 Medic Wade; and Corporal Upham, an interpreter. They meet up with the 101st Division in Neuville, France, where they locate a Private James Ryan; however, he is not the Ryan with three brothers. In the meantime, Private Caparzo is shot and killed by a German sniper. Private Jackson retaliates by killing the sniper. Miller is told by a group of soldiers moving through the area that the correct Private Ryan is stationed at a bridge in the French town of Ramelle. On the way there, Miller and his men discover two dead bodies of U.S. paratroopers near a radar site, and locate a German machine gun position. Miller chooses to engage the Germans, putting his company at risk. The ensuing skirmish leaves Wade dead. They succeed, however, and take a remaining German soldier as their prisoner. Cpl. Upham speaks to the German and convinces Miller to let him go. Private Reiben disapproves and threatens to leave, but Miller regains his confidence with a personal confession. He reveals his work as a school teacher back home, and openly regrets how many lives he has taken. While he does not actually care about Private Ryan, he wants badly to complete the mission as he hopes it will earn all of them a return home. Miller and his men continue to Ramelle, where they find Private Ryan making preparations for an impending attack on the bridge he’s been defending. Although he is devastated by the news about his brothers, he is adamant to keep fighting alongside his men. Miller agrees to join forces with Ryan’s paratrooper unit, and helps orchestrate an ambush. The ensuing fight ends in many casualties, including Privates Jackson and Mellish, and Sergeant Horvath. Capt. Miller is shot by the same German soldier he freed in Neuville. Cpl. Upham, who had advocated for the man, kills the German in retaliation. As an American plane and more ground units show up, the Germans retreat. A dying Miller is surrounded by Privates Reiben and Ryan. With his last words, he tells Ryan, “Earn this.” Back in the present, the elderly man at the memorial is Private Ryan, and the grave he visits belongs to Capt. Miller. Ryan asks his wife if his life was worthy of Miller’s sacrifice, and she assures him that it was. As he leaves, Ryan gives a heartfelt salute to Miller’s tombstone.