Charles Shay, Penobscot Nation WWII Veteran andโฃ D-Day Landing Survivor, Dies at 99
NORMANDY, France – Charles Shay, a Penobscot Nation โveteran who stormed the beaches of Normandyโ on D-Day and became a powerful voice for peace in his later years, has died at โthe age of 99. Shay passed away โฃpeacefully in France, where he had livedโ since 1994, according to the American Association of Indian Affairs.
Shay’s death marks โฃtheโ loss of a vital link to a pivotal moment in โฃhistory and a poignant โreminder โof theโ contributions of Native Americans to the Allied war effort – contributions often โoverlooked.He was among the first wave of soldiers โขto land on omahaโ Beach on June 6, 1944, serving as a medic with the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division. His story highlightsโข the past irony of โNative american โsoldiers fightingโ for freedoms denied โฃto their communities back home, where they were not granted full citizenshipโ and faced restrictions, including limitations on their rightโค to vote until 1954.
Born in 1924, Shay enlisted in the Army โat 19, motivatedโ by aโค desire to defend freedom. Following WWII, โขhe โขcontinued โฃto serve his country during the Korean War, also asโข a medic. He โคlater participatedโ in U.S.nuclear testing in the marshall โคIslands and worked at the Internationalโฃ Atomic Energy Agency inโ Vienna,Austria. For โฃover sixโฃ decades, Shay remained โsilent about โคhis wartime experiences, beginning toโฃ share hisโข story onyl in 2007 when heโค started attending D-Dayโค commemorations.
Inโค recent years, Shay became a dedicated advocate for โฃpeace,โ using his platform to โdeliver powerful testimony about theโ horrors of war. He performed โคa sage-burning โคceremony โคforโ decades โคon a bluff overlooking Omaha โBeach,โข honoring the fallen, and โinโ June 2022, he passed that duty to Julia Kelly, a Gulf War veteran from theโ Crow tribe. โขThe transferโ occurred just months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of โUkraine, a development that โฃdeeply saddened Shay.
“Ukraine is a very sad situation. I feelโข sorry for the people there and Iโฃ don’t โknow why this war had to โcome,” he said in 2022.”In 1944, Iโฃ landed on โthese โbeaches and we thought we’d bring peace to the world. Butโข it’s not possible.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shay’s solitaryโข presence at commemoration ceremonies โsymbolized the sacrifices made by Allied forces when โขtravel restrictions prevented families and fellow veterans from attending. โขHis legacy will continue to inspireโ generations to strive โคfor a world free from โconflict.