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

BRETTEVILLE-L’ORGUEILLEUSE, France — (AP) — On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old U.S. Army medic who was ready to give his life — and save as many as he could.

Now 99, he’s spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he’s about to take part in the 80th anniversary commemorations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation.

“I guess I was prepared to give my life if I had to. Fortunately, I did not have to,” Shay said in an interview with The Associated Press.

A Penobscot tribe citizen from Indian Island in the U.S. state of Maine, Shay has been living in France since 2018, not far from the shores of Normandy where many world leaders are expected to come next month. Solemn ceremonies will be honoring the nearly 160,000 troops from Britain, the U.S., Canada and other nations …