Delmar Curtis McElhaney was born on December 12, 1922, in Aurora, Madison County, Arkansas. He was the son of Joseph Allen "Joe" McElhaney and Ada Seals McElhaney. He served in the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, as a Private during World War II.

On June 6, 1944, Pvt McElhaney, one of the paratroopers from the 507 PIR jumped from C47 #42-92382 far from their intended drop zone following a brief firefight by a German convoy, and was taken prisoner by the Germans. Pvt McElhaney with six other captured paratroopers were interrogated and then taken back to a wooded area where they were executed by the Germans. They were shot in the back of the head and buried in a hastily dug pit. Local villagers exhumed their bodies and reburied them in the communal cemetery of Hémevez. Pvt McElhaney is now buried in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. He was posthumously awarded the Prisoner Of War Medal, and the Purple Heart in recognition of his bravery and sacrifice.