 What is in my heart? Well, it's a very serious Affair that is in my heart I'm a Penobscot Indian Living on the Penobscot Indian Reservation. Well, I was unfortunately Participated in two wars during my military service. I Experienced in both occasions Things that affected my life Many of them have never heard of Omaha Beach before they landed and made the invasion. I was one of them I landed at 0630 in the first wave Once we get in the area of the beach the Germans had placed these obstacles under the water All up and down the beach and of course we were receiving fire from the shores by the Germans machine guns fire small arms waters survival was on the minds of everybody When we jumped into the water I landed into water up to my chest I went for one obstacle to the next and I left and ran for the beach and I Made it seeing somebody dead. It was very difficult and I had to clear my mind from everything What I was seeing and and do with the work that I was trying to do And I started treating men with that had been wounded Bullet wounds broken limbs Many of the wounded men were flounder and they could not tell themselves they could not move and They were drowning so I dropped what I was doing on the shoreline and I went back to the water Once I was able to move like I started moving up and down the beach looking for wounded and treating them and All I was doing is I came across a friend of mine that I had trained with in England And he was a medic also and he had a serious stomach wound. His name was Edward Murasevic When I saw him, I knew he was dying. He knew it also I think and I gave him a shot of morphine to ease his pain and I did what I could for him, but I could not save his life and well He passed on. I often wondered how come I was able to survive two wars and not even be injured once Dear friends, dear all Thank you for being at our site today to celebrate D-Day and especially honoring Native American soldiers who took part of the battle of Normandy We are very honored to be here today and humbled to Give thanks to all of the people of France for Marie Lagrand For organizing with the Native people to remember Charles Shea while he is here with such a hero among us So we're very humbled The Indian nations answered massively to the call of war by the end of the war over 44,000 American Indians had served in the US Army Some tribes sent 70% of their valid men into war These American Indians would prove their value on all the theater of operations of World War two winning six Congressional Medal of Honor 51 superstars and 47 bronze stars a Great number of these amazing warriors fought here in Normandy 150 Native Americans left their homes to defend the United States in World War two Not only do they do their part, but they went above and beyond any expectations a Third of all eligible Native Americans ended up fighting in World War two and over 99% of the eligible registered for draft Today we continue to honor the past and remember the sacrifice of those who went before us And we express our gratitude for the sacrifice they made for our freedom We have dedicated on Normandy itself the Charles Jay Park Although it bears my name. It is not specifically for me it was meant to Recognize all Native Americans During the Second World War and perhaps in the First World War There were many Native American veterans serving I myself believe that we think I'm foolish, but I believe that I can establish contact with the men With their souls that are still wandering on that beach. I Seem to have met people that are only helping me establish my life and do with some of the things that I had dreamed of in my during my life and Well, this is the end result and I'm very happy with everything. I'm happy with everything that has happened to me