The Niland brothers; from left to right: Edward, Preston, Robert, and Frederick

The Niland brothers were four American brothers of Irish descent from Tonawanda, New York, who served in the military during World War II. They were sons of Mr and Mrs Michael C. Niland.[1] Two survived the war, but for a time, only one, Frederick "Fritz" Niland, was believed to have survived. After the reported deaths of his three brothers, Fritz was sent back to the United States to complete his service, and only later learned that his brother Edward, missing and presumed dead, was actually captive in a Japanese POW camp in Burma.

Brothers

Memorials

Steven Spielberg's 1998 film Saving Private Ryan is loosely based on the brothers' story.[5]

See also

References

  1. "Army & Navy: Stumpy's Boys". Time. 21 August 1944. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Niland Boys". Canisius College. July 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-03-10. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  3. "Tonawanda Flier Freed from Japs" (PDF). Buffalo Courier Express. 1945-05-05. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-22. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  4. "400 Prisoners in Crossfire Aided by Native: Tonawanda Lad Freed by British in Burma" (PDF). Buffalo Courier Express. 1945-05-08. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-22. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  5. 1 2 Mark Bando (2001). 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy. Zenith Imprint. pp. 153–155. ISBN 1610606914.
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