Many Americans lost their lives storming Omaha Beach on D-Day. But others lived because Charles Norman Shay was there as a combat medic.
Shay, a Penobscot from Indian Island, was drafted into the military at 19. His heroics on D-Day earned Shay a Silver Star and the French Legion of Honor.
Now, the Maine Department of Transportation says his name will grace the hull of a new ferry to serve Matinicus Island. The diesel ferry will be 104 feet long, with the capacity to ferry 149 passengers and seven cars.
Shay is believed to be the last living Native American to have taken part in the D-Day invasion. He's 99 now and, according to the state, living in France. Transportation officials have told him of the naming.
Construction of the new ferry began in Nov. 2022. It's due to arrive in Rockland during the first half of next year.
