Tom Hanks was already a huge star when 'Saving Private Ryan' was released, but the movie still did wonderful things for his career. It won him a whole raft of awards, and nominations for many more, as well as making him a lot of money and earning rave reviews from critics. In top of that, it also did something that meant a great deal to the actor personally.
In 2006, Tom Hanks was inducted as an honorary member of the US Army's Ranger Hall of Fame; an honor awarded solely because of his performance as Captain John Miller in his film. The Rangers felt that Hanks' honest, brave and sincere performance had been a fine representation of what every US Ranger should aspire to be, and therefore it was worthy of recognition. The award meant a great deal to Hanks; military causes are close to his heart, and he's served as the chairman of the D-Day Museum Campaign.