Delancey
- Rank: Private First Class
- Unit: 2nd Ranger Battalion, Company C
Private Delancey (Adam Shaw) was one of the Company C Rangers who was slated to land on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.
As his landing craft approached the beach and dropped its ramp, heavy German machine gun fire tore into the Rangers attempting to disembark. Captain John Miller order the remaining men to jump over the sides of their craft in order to avoid this fate. Delancey was one of those that safely made it into the water, and was dragged to shore by Miller himself. Just as they reached the apparent safety of a hedgehog, Delancey was shot in the heart and killed instantly.
Fact vs. Fiction
The need for soldiers to jump over the sides of landing craft is accurate and realistic. What isn't so realistic is the obvious explosives package hidden under actor Adam Shaw's sodden uniform. It is possible that this package was undetectable underneath a dry uniform, but became visible once the actor and his clothing got wet. It took Shaw four takes to film his death, and the water was ice cold.
