“In April of 1943 I myself was drafted into the military and was selected for training as a medical technician with courses in basic surgery. Joining the Medical Detachment of the First Division’s 16th Infantry Regiment, I was attached as a platoon medic to Fox Company. Encamped in southern England, this Division had already fought in North Africa and Sicily and was now training for the invasion of German occupied France. Named after our shoulder patch, the Big Red One formed part of a huge armada crossing the Channel on the night of 5-6 June 1944, a date that has become known as D-Day. My company formed part of our regiment’s second battalion and as such I served as a combat medic in the first wave of the landing at Omaha Beach. Fox Company suffered enormous casualties, lost all its officers, and was nearly wiped out. Many combat medics were also wounded or killed on that infamous day. Feeling sustained by my mother’s prayers, I found the strength to come to the rescue of my fallen comrades wounded by enemy fire and drowning in the rising tide. Like everyone else, I did what I was trained to do. For my service to my comrades on that day, I was awarded the Silver Star. At the time, such a military distinction meant little to me or to comrades similarly decorated. What mattered was survival and winning the war.” – Charles Norman Shay, 1st Infantry Division, 16th Infantry Regiment
After taking part in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge, Shay was captured by the Germans in late March 1945, and liberated the following month.
“After storming through the Siegfried Line and crossing the Rhine River in March 1945, my regiment was poised to participate in a final offensive to defeat Germany. Attached to a reconnaissance squad, I crossed a railroad bridge over the Sieg River, a tributary of the Rhine. Scouting out the farming village of Auel. GIs walking ahead of me turned into an alley and Tiger tank trained at them, with some 20 enemy soldiers ready to fire. My comrades dropped their weapons. As a medic, all I had was my first-aid kit and white armband with its red-cross — both confiscated by the Germans. Soon after our capture, American artillery shelled the village and we dove for cover. What happened to my comrades after that, I do not know to this day. I myself was taken away for a brief interrogation. Seeing I looked different from other captured GIs, a German officer asked me my race and I answered “American Indian.” The next few days were spent marching, to where I knew not – always by night, to avoid being strafed by Allied fighter planes. Our column grew larger as other captured GIs joined. We finally arrived in a small German POW camp known by its German name as Stalag VI-G, just outside Neubergstadt. For us, the end of the war came on 12 April when American troops had encircled a large German Army, trapping 350,000 enemy soldiers in what has become known as the Ruhr Pocket, and liberated our POW camp. I returned to Indian Island Maine and saw my parents. Soon, the Japanese also capitulated and my three brothers all returned home safe from the war” – Charles Shay
Charles Shay reenlisted and pursued a career as an Air Force medic. He went on to serve in the Korean War and retired from service with the rank of Master Sergeant.
Master Sergeant Shay was honored in 2007 with the Legion d’Honneur and in 2009 Shay successfully lobbied the state of Maine to establish Native American Veterans Day. As an elder member of the Penobscot tribe of Maine, Charles remained in the states until relocating to Normandy France reportedly in 2021.
Master Sergeant Charles Norman Shay turned 100 years old on June 27, 2024. Please join us in honoring the Service of this D-Day Hero. A grateful nation thanks you for your lifetime of service. Lest We Forget.
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