On D-Day, one Native American is left standing for the hundreds who fought
The flag of the Penobscot Indian Nation flies above the low dunes at Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer. At the base of the flagpole stands a sculptured granite turtle. This monument is the focus of a tribute to the 175 Native American soldiers who struggled up this shore on D-Day 75 years ago. On Wednesday, a delegation representing numerous tribal nations gathered here for a commemorative ceremony led by Charles Norman Shay, the World War II combat veteran for whom the small memorial park is named.
“We are gathered here American Indians well,” says Lanny Asepermy, a Comanche tribal historian and decorated Vietnam War veteran who is here with a delegation of Comanche code talker relatives.
