Charles Shay Indian Memorial Park

Inaugurated on June 5, 2017 by Charles Norman Shay member of the Pentagouets, a medic in Company F of the famous Big Red One, this memorial pays tribute to the Native American soldiers who fought in Normandy.
Panel text

In honor ofCharles Norman SHAY and in recognition of the 500 American Indian and Canadian soldiers who participated in Operation Neptune, during the liberation of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Some 175 Native Americans landed on this Omaha beach. Some were nurses, others were sailors, soldiers, radio operators, machine gunners, artillerymen, engineer soldiers, or scouts. A 19-year-old Penobscot Indian, Private Charles SHAY (Mohsskwehsosis, "Little Muskrat"), was a nursing sister from Indian Island, Maine. Shortly after dawn, he landed near here as part of an assault platoon. Diving repeatedly into the raging sea, he carried his seriously wounded comrades to safety under heavy fire. For his absolute heroism on that beach, he was awarded the "Silver Star" and continued to care for the wounded until the end of the war.