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A hero returns to his hometown

By ELENA LESLEY
Published November 18, 2006

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Lara Cerri] Michael Delancey came home Friday night to the field where he once played youth football.

PINELLAS PARK - Michael Delancey came home Friday night to the field where he once played youth football.

Pint-sized cheerleaders and their flag-waving parents anxiously awaited his arrival from the damp bleachers at Davis Fields. "Is that him?" the younger ones whispered, trying to spot their hometown hero.

Emcee Rob Snyder, a friend of Delancey's father, told them what to look for: the lights of the returning soldier's police escort.

It's "one of the first times you'll see a Pinellas 'Parker' escorted by the police as a good thing," he joked.

Minutes later, eagle eyes caught sight of a flicker approaching the field. The crowd shrieked. From inside a silver van, Delancey emerged, a stoic figure in his Marine uniform and wheelchair.

It wasn't the homecoming he had planned, but at least he was home.

*   *   *

Delancey, 21, was on patrol by the Euphrates River on Sept. 1 when he heard a load burst. The infantryman dropped to the ground, taking shelter in a grove of palm trees. It wasn't until he saw the blood that he knew he'd been shot.

The rest is hazy.

A bullet pierced his lung and shattered several vertebrae. Buddies patched his wound with shredded uniforms and sped him to a landing zone. As he was loaded onto a helicopter, Delancey asked, "Can I close my eyes now?"

His next memory came several weeks later in a Bethesda, Md. hospital room surrounded by his family. His sister, Megan, 17, was trying to teach him how to say "I love you" in sign language.

Now the young Marine is a patient at the James A. Haley Veterans Administration Medical Center in Tampa. Barely out of high school, he faces the daunting challenges of repairing his broken body and starting a new life.

He's not alone in the fight. Delancey's proud father, also Mike Delancey, is always close by. "I'm his billboard," he jokes, pointing to his military-themed T-shirt and cap.

And several days each week, his three younger sisters hover around his bed, thinking up comebacks to Delancey's jokes and dodging his mini foam football.

"Growing up, the Bucs were so horrible, I had to have a secondary team," he says, explaining the Cowboys paraphernalia throughout his hospital room. "And Miami's my favorite for basketball because everyone else likes UF or FSU. I like to be a little different."

"You are a little different," Megan teases.

Delancey flashes her a mock glare. "So annoying," he says. "But if one of them brought a boyfriend home ..." He aims his football at an imaginary suitor and the girls giggle.

After all he's been through, nearly eight months in Afghanistan, a tour in Iraq and a life-threatening injury, Delancey is still playing big brother.

"He's the same jokester," Megan says.

Delancey likes to say that he was "smart but lazy" at Pinellas Park High and jokes that he first started meeting with a military recruiter "to get out of class."

But beneath the comedian was a more thoughtful, pragmatic teenager. After a few conversations with the recruiter, he decided the military could offer educational and economic benefits.

*   *   *

While he left his home a hopeful Marine, Delancey has returned as a hero.

Hundreds of neighbors shouted, stomped and clapped for him Friday. Pinellas Park Mayor Bill Mischler teared up as he gave Delancey a key to the city and proclaimed today "Michael Delancey Day." U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, greeted him warmly and friends from WingHouse presented him with a long-awaited calendar.

"You grew up on this field, playing football and chasing girls," Snyder told him.

Delancey, who likes to keep his public speeches "short and sweet," remained modest despite all the fanfare.

"This is a little much for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

But no one in the crowd doubted his bravery or spirit. After speakers had quieted and cheerleaders cheered, a throng of well-wishers surrounded the Marine, eclipsing him from view.

"Here he is," Snyder called out, "Michael Delancey, your hometown hero!"

Times staff writer Elena Lesley can be reached at elesley@sptimes.com or (352) 564-3627.

[Last modified November 18, 2006, 07:34:34]