He was a rifleman with Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, and his fellow paratroopers recalled him as the best shot in the company. It was common to hear among Easy men, "it just didn't pay to shoot at Shifty".
He got the nickname "Shifty" as a youth due to his basketball skills; he was said to be "shifty on his feet".
American soldier who participated in the D-Day invasion in WWII.