On D-Day, 19-year-old medic Charles Shay was ready to give his life, and save as many as he could

By JEFFREY SCHAEFFER and SYLVIE CORBET
Associated Press

BRETTEVILLE-L’ORGUEILLEUSE, France (AP) — D-Day veteran Charles Shay is about to take part next month in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. Then a 19-year-old U.S. Army medic, the Penobscot tribe citizen from Maine says he was ready to give his life. He also sought to save as many as he could. Now 99, he’s spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication. Nearly 160,000 troops from Britain, the U.S., Canada and other nations who landed on June 6, 1944 on the Normandy shores. Shay said he did his job and “did not have time to worry” about his situation of being there and perhaps losing his own life.