Charles Norman Shay, Tribal Elder and World War II Hero, Dies at 101
As a 19-year-old medic, he won a Silver Star for his service during D-Day. Later, in the Korean War, he earned a Bronze Star.
Charles Norman Shay, who as a 19-year-old medic on D-Day repeatedly saved soldiers from drowning off Omaha Beach, turning them on their backs, dragging them ashore and binding their wounds, died on Wednesday at his home in Thue et Mue, France, near the site of the Normandy invasion. He was 101.
His death was announced by a group that supports the Charles N. Shay Indian Memorial, a monument on Omaha Beach to Native American soldiers who landed there on June 6, 1944.
Mr. Shay, a member of the Penobscot Nation of Maine, was one of about 175 Native Americans among the 34,000 Allied troops who came ashore on that beach, into the teeth of some of the bloodiest fighting of D-Day in the opening act of the liberation of France during World War II.
Mr. Shay was awarded the Silver Star for saving soldiers who had been cut down by heavy German machine-gun fire after disembarking from their landing craft into the waves. In 2007, he received France’s Legion of Honor for his actions that day.
