June 3, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 92 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages H4208-H4209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING CHARLES NORMAN SHAY

  (Ms. PINGREE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PINGREE. Madam Speaker, this week we recognize the 75th 
anniversary of D-Day, and we recognize a Mainer who helped to liberate 
France and then Europe from Nazi control in World War II during the 
invasion of Normandy.
  Charles Norman Shay is a Penobscot Tribal elder and a decorated 
veteran of both World War II and the Korean war. He has received the 
Bronze Star, the Silver Star, and the Legion of Honor, making him the 
first Native American in Maine with that distinction.
  Charles Norman Shay was drafted at 19 and served as a medic in the 
16th Infantry Regiment, First Infantry Division. When he landed at 
Omaha Beach

[[Page H4209]]

in the first wave, it was his first time in combat. Armed with only his 
medical supplies, Mr. Shay charged Omaha Beach dozens of times, pulling 
struggling soldiers from the sea, bandaging wounds, making splints out 
of pieces of wood, or comforting soldiers through their final moments.
  Mr. Shay makes a pilgrimage back to Normandy every year to remember 
his fellow soldiers, and at 94 years old, Mr. Shay is returning for the 
75th anniversary of D-Day.
  Mr. Shay is a hero to all Mainers, the Penobscot Nation, and all 
Americans. Our country is indebted to him.

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