D-Day veteran recounts Normandy landings
D-Day veteran Charles Shay is about to take part in next month's ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. Then a 19-year-old army medic, the Native American was ready to give his life, but also sought to save as many as he could. Now 99, he’s spreading a message of peace.
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Decorated Native American veteran Charles Shay has died at age 101 in France. Shay was a 19-year-old U.S. Army medic when he landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and helped save lives. Shay's longtime friend and carer Marie-Pascale Legrand said that Shay died at his home on Wednesday in Bretteville-L'Orgueilleuse in France's Normandy region. Shay was from the Penobscot tribe and from Indian Island in the U.S. state of Maine. He was awarded the Silver Star for repeatedly plunging into the sea and carrying critically wounded soldiers to relative safety. He also received France's highest award, the Legion of Honor, in 2007. Shay had been living in France since 2018 not far from the shores of Normandy.
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