Despite the astonishing lengths that Spielberg went to in order to make sure the battle scenes came across as 'real', it's impossible to please everybody. There's a scene in 'Saving Private Ryan' where a group of Rangers hurl mortar rounds with their bare hands. Some people - including some military veterans - took issue with that depiction, claiming it was unrealistic and could never happen on a real battlefield.
They were wrong, though. It actually did. US Army veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Charles Kenny can vouch for it. He threw plenty of mortar rounds with his bare hands during a battle in 1943 and lived to tell the tale. Spielberg had heard about Kenny's legendary feats and included the scene as a small tribute to his bravery. All of the normal rules go out of the window in a war situation, as Kelly's story proves.