96-year-old American is lone veteran
to attend D-Day anniversary
New York Post,
by
Eileen AJ Connelly
Original Article
Posted By: Imright,
6/6/2021 10:42:59 AM
Charles Shay was the only veteran at a ceremony in Carentan, where paratroopers landed in the early hours of D-Day, when the small French town marked the 77th anniversary of the epic World War II invasion Friday.He is also expected to be the sole representative of the more than 150,000 allied troops who landed on Normandy’s beaches at Sunday’s anniversary day ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer.The 96-year-old Native American from Indian Island, Maine, now lives in the country he helped liberate from the Nazis as a 19-year-old Army medic.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
msliberty1937 6/6/2021 11:07:54 AM (No. 807443)
One of the saddest headlines I've read in a while.
12 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Cindiana 6/6/2021 11:15:27 AM (No. 807452)
It truly breaks my heart to read about the waning numbers of these humble Patriots each time this date rolls around. If only our youth (and not-so-young) were taught properly so that they could appreciate what we have, and how we got/kept it. The ever-encroaching darkness we face is frightening.
19 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
FLCracker 6/6/2021 11:23:39 AM (No. 807464)
Lone veteran or lon D-Day veteran?
The answer affects #2's concerns.
4 people like this.
Tempus fugit.
6 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
lakerman1 6/6/2021 11:32:05 AM (No. 807476)
Believe it or not, Sgt. Shay was my NCO in charge, at Weisbaden Air Base, Germany, 1958 and 1959! He ran the Flight Surgeon's office there, was a tough little wiry guy, combat medic in WII and Korea. He might have gone to Viet Nam after that - a few guys served in all three wars.
He was highly decorated, but didn't talk about his war experiences.
(I just called a friend in Kentucky, who served with me in Weisbaden, and he had already seen the article, and confirmed Shay's identity.)
The world is small, hey?
26 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
zephyrgirl 6/6/2021 12:09:06 PM (No. 807510)
FTA: “In France, people who remember these men, they kept them close to their heart,” Shay said. “And they remember what they did for them. And I don’t think the French people will ever forget.”
Good for the French that they still appreciate what the Americans and British Commonwealth countries did for them. I may have to revise my opinion of their fecklessness.
8 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
DVC 6/6/2021 12:14:52 PM (No. 807522)
We spent a week in and around Carentan six years ago. We sought out the landing zones for the paratroopers and visited Omaha Beach. And Pegasus Bridge. and the cemetary, and so many other truly historic places.
RIP, all you heroes, and a salute to Charles Shay.
19 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
stablemoney 6/6/2021 12:27:55 PM (No. 807535)
Accountability. June 6, 1944. Justice begins.
7 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 6/6/2021 3:11:40 PM (No. 807680)
D-Day was the greatest military seaborne invasion the world has ever seen, or will ever see again. I often wonder what those German soldiers thought that morning of June 6, 1944 when they woke up and looked across the horizon and saw all those ships, armed and aimed at them. If only we had the video from inside those bunkers and tobruks. What a sight! Each time I see the footage of soldiers wading ashore through the barbed wire and obstacles, only for some to get cut down by the raging machine gun fire from the summit, it makes me realize the incredible courage and sacrifice so many made that day, both on the beach, and in the hedgerows and fields. Nazism was the greatest evil in the world and it was all brought about by national socialism very much in parallel with what is brewing with the "brown-shirt" Antifa thugs, and the stealing of elections. Beware Americans, that can easily happen here too, and there will be no one in the world to save us from ourselves.
God bless you, MSgt. Shay, and thank you for your service to this nation!
7 people like this.
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