Kar 98 K
The German engineer Paul Mauer invented the first Kar 98 rifle series in 1898. The Kar 98 series was a bolt action rifle that served as the standard military rifle for the German Empire since World War I. The Kar 98 K(K stands for Kurz, variant) developed in 1935 which was shorter than the original K98 served as the standard military rifle for the German military.
The Kar 98 K rifle used the standard 7.92x57 mm Mauser bullet, a 30 caliber bullet that was the standard ammunition for the German military. The German sniper(Wolfgang Gottberg is the name per the credit) that took down private Adrian Caparzo used the Kar 98 K rifle with a scope attached.
How could private Jackson calculate the distance of the sniper
The sound of the shot was heard after Adrian Caparzo was hit. Thus, the German sniper was located at a distance where it was distant enough that the speed of the bullet and the speed of sound are not perceived as the same.
Even for 225 yards, about 205 meters, skilled marksmanship and training is required to hit the target and within this range, the sound of the shot and the hit of the target is perceived the same.
The average speed of a bullet from the Kar 98 K series was estimated 760m/s ~ 1080m/s while the speed of a sound is 340 m/s. 450 yards is about 411 meters, thus if the sniper was located at about 450 yards about 411 meters, the sound of the shot would take 1.2 seconds for the sound to arrive to private Jackson while it would take 0.5 seconds for the bullet to hit Adrian Caparzo.
It did take about 0.5~1 seconds between the gunfire sound and the hit of Adrian Caparzo so the sniper private Jackson’s calculation were very close to estimate the German sniper distance.
Snipers often use silencers to conceal their location distance by suppressing the velocity of the gunshot sound rather than to suppress the sound in reality. (A gun with a silencer is ridiculously loud if you hear one.) Because of the distance, the Sniper could have seen the flash first before Jackson's bullet hits him.
M1903 Springfield
The M1903 Springfield rifle was the standard military rifle for the United States of America during World War I until it was replaced by the M1 Garand. The M1903 Springfield rifle still served as the standard rifle during the transition to the M1 Garand.
The Springfield M1903 used the 30-caliber ammunition and was a bolt-action rifle with a 5 round magazine.
The M1903A4, the modified version for snipers and designated marksmen was still sued during World War II . The M1 Garand couldn’t mount a telescopic sight and the strong backfire of the M1 Garand made it inefficient as a sniper rifle.
Thus private Daniel Jackson used a M1903A4 Springfield rifle during the Normandy Landings and the mission to find private James Francis Ryan.
Pathfinders
The captain Fred Hamill from the 101st Airborne Division that helped captain John. H. Miller’s crew by taking out the Germans they accidentally stumbled into by breaking the wall introduced himself as a pathfinder.
The pathfinder units were units that even infiltrated an hour earlier before the airborne parachuting and about 6~7 hours before the beach landings. The tasks of the pathfinders was to mark landing zones with beacons and radio transmitters so the C47 transport aircrafts could recognize the landing points.
C47 ‘Skytrain’
The C47 was an aircraft developed by the Douglas company(later merged as McDonnell Douglas and even later merged with Boeing) that was used as a transport of cargo and paratroopers.
The C47 was based on the famous DC-3 passenger plain series that was developed by the Douglas company where still variants of the DC-3 are still used in many countries until this date. The C47 could load about 28 fully armed paratroopers while it could also tow a glider into battle as well.
Gliders
The gliders on D-Day were planned to land between the combat boundaries between the 82nd Airborne Division and the 101st Airborne Division.
Gliders would usually carry heavy weapons and vehicles that would support the paratroopers that cannot carry heavy weapons or transports due to their weight limit. Gliders would carry jeeps, anti-tank weapons, artillery guns and machine guns as well as troopers.
Parachute drops of such equipment would crush the equipment, thus mounting them on gliders and ensured a safe delivery. Also gliders could deliver troops massed up better than parachuting as parachuting troops would kind of scatter all the troopers along the route of the plane.
The role of gliders were replaced by the development of helicopters and the advance of aircrafts carrying heavier loads of cargo.
Brigadier General Amend and the glider crash
Brigadier General Don Forester Pratt was the highest-ranking officer that was killed in action on D-Day. He died from a glider crash during the Normandy Invasion.
He was killed in a glider crash but rather than steel plates being reinforced, the rain caused the wet grass to let the glider slide while the breaks wouldn’t function so well and Brigadier General Don Forester Pratt’s neck snapped and he was killed in action.
This story was modified as a fictional general Amend to give an emphasis on the main question of Saving Private Ryan, whether it was worthy to keep one man alive and sacrifice others.
Hands trembling of Captain John H. Miller.
Captain H. Miller also had skepticism of the war and the mission of Saving Private Ryan himself. He has been through North Africa, Italy and facing the brutal battles of Normandy Landings. However, he must look strong so he could lead his men to battle.
Captain John H. Miller was somewhat obsessed of trying not to show the weak side of himself except for sergeant Michael Horvath.
He never even told his men that he was a teacher at Thomas Alva Edison High School in Addley, Pennsylvania. The brutal battle on the beach in contrast of the soldiers having hot coffee and a heavy sandwich on the beach.
The death of Adrian Caparzo begging for posting a letter to his father in contrast of the crying French girl and family. The tragedy of general Amend that killed multiple which the glider pilot emphasized this was all because of ‘one man’.
All the experiences were grinding captain John H. Miller’s soul and he trembled his hands as he pointed a way towards Ramelle on the map. This may have been symptoms of PTDS(Posttraumatic Stress Disorder)
Ralph Waldo Emerson – Timothy Upham and John H.Miller
“War educates the senses, calls into action the will, perfects the physical constitution, brings men into such swift and close collision in critical moments that man measures man.”
Timothy Upham is a symbol of ordinary people, civilians who have not yet faced war throughout the movie. Timothy Upham still speaks of the romance of the brotherhood in war, yet he doesn’t even know what FUBAR meant showing he has never experienced the blood, dirt and sorrows of combat.
While resting in a church, Timothy Upham talks about Emerson, a famous poet and philosopher and how Upham expects to learn from the war. Captain John H. Miller, the combat hardened veteran talks about the bet on him and then replies on Upham’s quote on Emerson “What if we don’t live that long”. This shows Timothy Upham or the audience which he represents that this film itself may be ‘educational’ or ‘entertainment’ for him or the audience.
However, for captain John H. Miller, war had nothing educational, warm hearted stories just a mere brutal struggle for survival on the small grasps of belief of justice that I’m doing the right thing.
