Fritz joined Company H, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division.
As fate would have it, three of the brothers found themselves preparing for the invasion of mainland Europe.
However, before the brothers could start their “Great Crusade” to liberate Europe, Edward was shot down somewhere over Burma.
He was a B-25 tail gunner and he got shot down over Burma. His role as a platoon leader highlighted his emerging leadership abilities, as he prepared to guide his men through high-stakes combat scenarios.[14]On June 6, 1944, during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, Niland led his platoon ashore at Utah Beach as part of the 4th Infantry Division's assault, which encountered lighter resistance compared to other sectors but still faced determined German defenses.[15] The following day, June 7, 1944, while advancing inland near Crisbecq, France, Niland was killed in action by German small arms fire as he attempted to aid a wounded soldier, demonstrating his commitment to his troops.[16] At age 29, he was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for his sacrifice in the European Theater.[17]
Robert Niland
Robert Niland served as a Technical Sergeant in Company D, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division during World War II.[6] He enlisted in the United States Army alongside his brother Preston prior to the nation's entry into the war, initially in the Army Air Forces before transferring to the infantry.[18]Niland completed paratrooper training at Fort Benning, Georgia, where the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated in July 1942 and conducted rigorous airborne qualification exercises.[19] In April 1944, his unit deployed to England as part of the 82nd Airborne Division's preparations for the Allied invasion of Normandy, arriving in Liverpool on April 22 to undergo final training for Operation Overlord.[20]On June 6, 1944—D-Day—Niland participated in the airborne assault near Sainte-Mère-Église in Normandy, France, parachuting into the Cotentin Peninsula as part of the division's mission to secure key objectives behind Utah Beach.
This shared family tradition of service and patriotism, rooted in their father's experiences, foreshadowed their collective commitment to the war effort after Pearl Harbor.[9]
Enlistment Motivations
The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, profoundly influenced the Niland brothers' decisions to enlist, as it did for countless Americans, igniting a surge in voluntary military service driven by outrage, a desire for retribution, and a heightened sense of national duty.[10] In the days following the assault, enlistment rates skyrocketed, with long lines forming at recruiting stations nationwide, reflecting a collective resolve to defend the United States against the Axis powers.[10] This national fervor, amplified by widespread media coverage and patriotic appeals, resonated deeply with the Nilands, a close-knit family from Tonawanda, New York, whose early lives had fostered strong bonds of loyalty and shared values.Preston and Robert Niland, motivated by this pre-war tension and an innate sense of duty, enlisted in the U.S.
Army prior to the official American entry into World War II—Preston on March 31, 1941, and Robert shortly thereafter—demonstrating their proactive commitment to military service amid rising global threats.[11] Their younger brothers, Edward and Frederick (known as Fritz), followed suit in November 1942 after reaching the age of 20, volunteering without the compulsion of the draft that was expanding at the time.
Though casualties were relatively light for the men of the 4th Infantry Division on Utah beach, the battles beyond would be much tougher. Niland completed his service stateside as a military policeman in New York until his discharge in 1945.[24]
Edward Niland
Edward Niland, the eldest of the four Niland brothers from Tonawanda, New York, served as a Technical Sergeant in the U.S.
Army Air Forces during World War II.[25] Assigned to the 434th Bombardment Squadron as a radio operator and top turret gunner, he flew missions in B-25 Mitchell medium bombers in the China-Burma-India theater of the Pacific.[26] His service contrasted with that of his younger brothers, who fought in the European theater, as the family initially presumed his death alongside theirs following reports of losses during the D-Day invasions.[27]On May 20, 1944, Niland's aircraft, B-25J 43-3896, was struck by intense anti-aircraft fire during a bombing raid on rail yards at Kyaukku, Burma.[26] The plane crashed, and Niland parachuted into the jungle below, where he was quickly captured by Japanese forces along with most of his crew.[26] Initially listed as killed in action, he endured nearly a year as a prisoner of war in Japanese camps, including the Rangoon Central Jail and Burma #5 camp near Moulmein, under brutal conditions marked by starvation, forced labor, and tropical diseases.[28] Niland suffered severe malnutrition, dropping from 180 pounds to just 80 pounds, and contracted beriberi, but he survived the ordeal without fatal injuries.[25]Niland was liberated on May 4, 1945, by British Commonwealth forces advancing into Burma.[27] For his service and captivity, he received the Purple Heart.[27]
Sole Survivor Policy Application
Notification and Evacuation
The Sole Survivor Policy was established by the U.S.
War Department following the deaths of the five Sullivan brothers aboard the USS Juneau in November 1942, with initial directives issued in late 1942 to prevent the complete loss of a family through military service by removing the last surviving sibling from combat zones.[29] This policy was directly applied to the Niland family after reports of three brothers' deaths reached authorities shortly after the D-Day invasion.[29]The Niland family first learned of Edward Niland's presumed death in late May 1944, based on initial reports from his unit in the Pacific theater.[30] On June 9, 1944, the War Department notified the family in Tonawanda, New York, of the deaths of Robert Niland on June 6 and Preston Niland on June 7 during operations in Normandy, triggering immediate application of the Sole Survivor Policy for the presumed last remaining brother, Frederick "Fritz" Niland.[31]Military officials traced Fritz Niland's location to the 101st Airborne Division in Normandy, where he had parachuted in on D-Day, become separated from his unit, and rejoined them on June 24 near Carentan.[30] Around late June or early July 1944, Army chaplain Father Francis Sampson located Fritz after receiving War Department orders, informed him of his brothers' fates, and initiated the repatriation process under the policy, though Fritz initially resisted.[31][22]Fritz remained with his unit through the summer of 1944, suiting up for two canceled missions, until the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment returned to England in July 1944.
If only the brothers could have known that their story would turn into Saving Private Ryan, one of the most classic war films in history.
When the War Department received word of the tragedy orders were dispatched to return Fritz Niland to the United States. Niland continued combat operations with the 501st, participating in the fierce fighting to secure Carentan, a key objective in the Normandy campaign.
“That’s the difference to me they were proud to serve our country.”
WKBW
“This is beautiful,” says Preston. The family's heritage traced back to Irish immigrants from County Galway, reflecting the waves of Irish migration to western New York in the late 19th century.
Although Fritz’s unit, 3rd Battalion, 501st PIR, was supposed to be the division reserve, the misdrops meant they were thrust into action in ad hoc groups.
He lived.”
WKBW
“My uncle Preston who I'm named after was with the fourth division which was easier to get on when they got on the beach they had trouble getting to land. Shortly after landing, at the age of 25, he was killed in action near Neuville-au-Plain while manning a machine gun to cover the retreat of his fellow paratroopers amid intense German counterattacks; two comrades who remained with him were captured but later survived.[21] His body was recovered, and he is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, France (Plot F, Row 15, Grave 11).
Frederick Niland
Frederick William "Fritz" Niland, born April 23, 1920, in Tonawanda, New York, was the youngest of the four Niland brothers.
When two companies of Germans came at their position, they fought tenaciously to hold them off to buy time for their comrades to the south. Sampson located Fritz, who had been searching for his brother in the 82nd and began to paperwork to send him home.
Returning to the United States in 1944, Fritz served for the remainder of the war as an MP in New York.
Then, in May 1945, the Nilands received some rather unexpected news.
Did you know every one of those young men was smiling?” he expresses.
“I try to represent the family with a reasonable amount of dignity as much as I can.”
Preston explains the story of his father and three uncles.
WKBW
“The first picture is my father.
He had survived bailing out of his plane, several days in the jungle, and nearly a year as a prisoner of the Japanese.
Growing up in a tight-knit household with two sisters, the brothers experienced a typical upbringing in a Catholic family, attending local parochial schools and later graduating from Tonawanda High School, where they participated in community activities emblematic of small-town American life in the interwar years.Before entering military service, the brothers pursued civilian careers suited to Tonawanda's working-class environment: Preston served as a clerk at a local steel mill; Robert trained as a machinist apprentice; Frederick worked as a playground supervisor for the city; and Edward worked as a roll hand at a local steel mill while considering further education.
Niland brothers
The Niland brothers were four Irish-American siblings—Edward, Preston, Robert, and Frederick "Fritz"—from Tonawanda, New York, who all served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II, becoming emblematic of the era's family sacrifices after three were reported killed or missing in action shortly after the D-Day invasion, prompting the military to repatriate the sole survivor under its sole survivor policy, which had been established in late 1942 following cases like the five Sullivan brothers lost earlier that year.[1][2] Born to Michael and Julia Niland between 1912 and 1920, the brothers enlisted amid the escalating global conflict, with Preston and Robert joining before the U.S.
formally entered the war in December 1941, while Edward and Frederick followed soon after.[3][4]Preston Niland, a 2nd Lieutenant and platoon leader in Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd InfantryRegiment of the 4th Infantry Division, was killed in action on June 7, 1944, during the Normandy landings near Utah Beach, just one day after D-Day.[5] His older brother Robert, a Technical Sergeant and paratrooper in Company D, 505th Parachute InfantryRegiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, had died the previous day, June 6, 1944, while providing rear-guard cover for his unit's withdrawal near La Fière, Normandy, after parachuting in as part of the airborne assault.[6][3] Meanwhile, Edward Niland, a pilot in the U.S.
Army Air Forces serving in the Pacific theater, had been shot down over Burma in May 1944 and taken as a prisoner of war by Japanese forces, leading his family to believe he was also dead until his liberation nearly a year later in 1945.[7] These rapid successive losses devastated the Niland family and highlighted the risks faced by siblings in combat, leading to the application of the sole survivor policy to protect the remaining brother.[1]Frederick "Fritz" Niland, the youngest at age 24, had parachuted into Normandy on June 6, 1944, as a Sergeant in the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, though he became separated from his unit during the chaotic night drop and rejoined them around June 12 near Hill 30.[8] Upon learning of his brothers' fates through a War Department notification delivered by General Dwight D.
Eisenhower's staff, Fritz was withdrawn from combat and sent back to the United States in July 1944, where he completed his service stateside before being honorably discharged.[1][2] Their story, blending tragedy and survival, served as the primary real-life inspiration for the 1998 Steven Spielberg film Saving Private Ryan, in which a squad is dispatched to rescue the last surviving brother of four after his siblings' deaths in Normandy—though the movie fictionalizes details, such as portraying all brothers in the European theater and the search occurring immediately after D-Day.[4][7]Postwar, the surviving brothers rebuilt their lives in Tonawanda: Fritz worked at Bell Aerospace, married Elizabeth McGreevy in 1946, and raised three children before his death in 1983 at age 63; Edward, freed from captivity, returned home, pursued a career, and lived until 1984.[3][2] The Nilands' legacy endures through memorials, including a monument at the Normandy American Cemetery in France dedicated in June 2024 during D-Day commemorations, where historian Anthony Folquier noted, “I’m sorry to tell you that Private Ryan did not exist, but the story is based on the true story of the Niland brothers,” underscoring their role in preserving familial and national memory.[7]
Family Background
Origins and Early Life
The Niland brothers were the sons of Michael C.
Niland, a veteran of the Spanish-American War who served with the Rough Riders under Theodore Roosevelt, and his wife Augusta Witzke Niland, in a devoutly Catholic, Irish-American family residing in Tonawanda, New York—a blue-collar industrial suburb north of Buffalo.