Charles Norman Shay, an elder of the Penobscot tribe in Maine, was drafted into the Army in 1943 at the age of 19.
He trained as a combat medic and was assigned to the 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, aka the "Big Red One."
On June 6, 1944, during the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, Shay waded ashore on Omaha Beach. He was soon busy tending to the many wounded, pulling soldiers from the rising tide and saving them from drowning before administering first aid. In later interviews he said the surf was red with blood from the dead and wounded. His actions earned him the Silver Star.
Later in the war, he applied his medical skills to the wounded at the Battles of Aachen, Hurtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge.
Shay was later attached to a reconnaissance squadron for a special mission near the village of Auel, close to the Sieg River in Germany. The squadron encountered about 20 German soldiers accompanied by a tank with an 88mm weapon and were forced to surrender.
The squadron was then marched about 60 miles, moving only by night, to the POW Camp Stalag VI-G. The column of prisoners steadily grew along the way as more Americans were captured. Shay was interrogated and held there until April 12, 1945, when U.S. troops encircled the camp, trapping 350,000 enemy soldiers and liberating the camp.
Upon returning stateside after the war, Shay was unable to find work -- like many veterans at the time -- so he reenlisted in the Army. He was stationed in Vienna, Austria, serving as a medic with a military police unit.
Shay was assigned to the 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division as a medic in Japan and then, after the war in Korea broke out on June 25, 1950, as a combat medic in Korea.
His many awards include a Silver Star Medal and a Bronze Star Medal with two oak leaf clusters. He was also awarded the French Legion of Honor in 2007.
Shay remained in the Army and retired as a master sergeant.
Today, Shay is an elder member of the Penobscot tribe of Maine. He currently lives in France, and he is active in American veteran projects.