Private Daniel Jackson was an American soldier from West Fork, Tennessee serving in the 2nd Rangers Battalion of the United States Army. He was one of the men Captain John H. Miller selected to search for Private James Francis Ryan. He is a designated sniper, armed with a M1903A4 Springfield Rifle. Apparently from the southern U.S., he appears to be a devout Christian, quoting scripture from the Bible while applying his skills in combat. Examples include Psalm 25 in Neuville while lining up a shot on the German sniper who mortally wounded Caparzo, and Psalm 144 during the Battle of Ramelle in the church tower.
Jackson is a phenomenal sharpshooter, and is responsible for taking out two German machine gun nests on Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion, a sniper in a bell-tower who had killed Private Adrian Caparzo, and numerous SS soldiers during the battle at Ramelle. He boasts while on the march that if he were placed a mile or less away from Adolf Hitler with a clear line of sight, the war would be over.
He assisted in the taking of the German radio station bunker (the bunker whose occupants killed Wade), running left and drawing fire. He was threatening to shoot Sergeant Mike Horvath in the hope Horvath would not shoot Private Richard Reiben because Reiben was going to desert the mission which was what prompted Horvath draw his pistol. He later put his gun away when Miller diffused the tension by revealing where he lived and worked.
Jackson and Parker seconds before their death
While fighting in Ramelle, he served as a lookout for approaching German forces. He was able to use military sign language to accurately convey approaching troop numbers to Captain Miller ("He sees ... Tiger tanks, two of them, Panzer tanks, two of them. Infantry ... fifty, plus change"). After the battle began, he returned to sniping, gunning down many German soldiers from his tower along with Private Parker, who was manning a 30-cal machine gun. The two of them are then spotted by attacking German forces and are both killed when a Panzer tank fires on and destroys the tower.
Jackson in the standoff with the German troops in Neuville, France