CHARLES SHAY
Of the many World War II veterans I’ve had the privilege to meet, few if any have been as remarkable as Charles Shay. A Native American of the Penobscot tribe, Charles was born in 1924, the year that Congress enacted the Indian Citizenship Act, granting all Native Americans born in the USA the right to vote. Some states complied with the Act, but others didn’t, including Maine, where Charles lived with his parents and three brothers. They were raised in poverty on a reservation, and yet when the U.S. entered the war in 1941, Charles and his brothers all served their country, despite the fact that they were considered ‘second class citizens’; allowed to die for their country, but not to vote.
Charles trained as a medic, and on arriving in England in late 1943, he was posted to the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.
He was in the first wave at Omaha Beach on D-day, coming ashore at 6.30am amid a maelstrom of fire. Hundreds of Americans were killed or wounded in those bloody few hours as they fought to establish a beachhead. Charles, just 19, moved calmly from casualty to casualty, doing what he could to alleviate their suffering. At one moment he saw that the tide was coming in, threatening to drown the wounded who lay helpless on the beach. Without hesitation he ran down the beach and began dragging them to safety while enemy machine gunners singled him out.
He lost count of how many he saved. A dozen, maybe more, carrying on until he collapsed from exhaustion. “Subordinating personal safety to the welfare of his comrades, Private Shay repeatedly plunged into the treacherous sea and carried critically injured men to safety,” ran the citation of his Silver Star. “Private Shay’s unselfish heroism exemplified the finest traditions of the Medical Department.”
Shay later saw action in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge, in the autumn and winter of 1944, and he remained in the military after the war. Despite the fact that Maine continued to deny Native Americans the vote, Shay fought in another war in Korea, earning three Bronze Stars for his courage and resolve.
It wasn’t until 1954, however, that he was finally awarded the right to vote. Charles, now 97, has lived in Normandy since 2018, 20 miles south of Omaha Beach. Every 6 June at 6.30am, he performs a traditional Penobscot ceremony on the sand to honour his fallen comrades. Proud to be a Penobscot, proud to be an American, Shay’s dignity and devotion to duty has triumphed over intolerance and bigotry.