Unbelievable film and you're spot on on the choking up front.
You should check out "Band of Brothers" if you haven't already - same production team and a brilliant series..... although if you've watched Saving Private Ryan 50 times you will have seen it already
As a teenager, I used to go fishing with a really nice and interesting old guy (James Potter from Liverpool) who was in WWI at the Somme in France and incredibly somehow managed to survive that. It was only after I got to know him pretty well did he even talk about it. Virtually everyone he ever knew all the way from training and the months/year leading up to that battle was killed within an hour on one morning....... He had a blacksmith in his home town make him an iron plate fastened on with leather straps which he wore under his tunic. Apparently saved him on a few occasions and the best investment he said he had ever made. On a recent trip to the Imperial War Museum in London, I was amazed to find a whole section on home made armour designed and worn by these guys. Incredible foresight...... but rare at the time....