Letter reveals what soldier who inspired 'Saving Private Ryan' left at Normandy

(NEXSTAR) -- A heartbreaking letter reveals the man who inspired Saving Private Ryan hoped to return to Normandy for the 40th anniversary of D-Day.He did not make it.Fritz Niland died one year earlier in 1983.
"We are planning a trip to Normandy for the four of us in 1984," Niland wrote to his daughter in 1979. "Five years may appear as planning too far ahead for the young, but not for the older."The story of Niland and his brothers was brought to the big screen in the 1998 film "Saving Private