The way the opening is shot, with the zoom into the old man's face, and the cut to the D-Day landings with Tom Hanks, visually implies it is a memory. It's a bit of a cheap trick, and quite honestly I'd have removed that scene, starting instead with D-Day. I might have included the epilogue (or a shortened version of it), but on the whole I don't think the bookends add much of value. It's the one nit I pick in an otherwise outstanding piece of work.