Private Reiben: You wouldn't shoot the kraut and now you're gonna shoot me?
Sergeant Horvath: He's better than you.
Private Jackson: What I mean by that, sir, is if you was to put me and this here sniper rifle anywhere up to and including one mile from Adolf Hitler... With a clean line of sight... Pack your bags, fellas. War's over. Amen.
Captain Miller: It's like finding a needle in a stack of needles.
Private Reiben: I got a bad feeling about this one.
Captain Miller: When was the last time you felt good about anything?
Steamboat Willie: American, I like American.
Private Ryan: Picture a girl who took a nosedive from the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.
Captain Miller: Maybe we should bust up into groups, wander the woods like Hansel and Gretel, calling his name. He's bound to hear us sooner or later. RYAN!
Captain Miller: He better be worth it. He better go home and cure a disease, or invent a longer-lasting light bulb.
Cpt. Miller: I'll see you on the beach!
Private Caparzo: Captain, the decent thing to do would be take her over to the next town.
Captain John Miller: We're not here to do the decent thing, we're here to follow f*cking orders!
Answer: These were barrage balloons, commonly used during the war. They are used to stop low level bombing and low level fly bys by enemy fighter planes. The cables attached to the balloons are designed to cut through the wings of the aircraft and to bring them down, so any pilot would have to fly above them, and the balloons would also restrict the view from above.