J u ly / A u g u s t 2 0 1 7 6 3 Roots from left: dominique luce; herald Prins and Bunny Mcbride his visits to the Normandy coast that she campaigned to establish a memorial park in Shay’s name. The Charles Shay Memorial Park in Saint Laurent-sur-Mer, overlooking the same beach Shay liberated over 70 years ago, opened in June. Shay attended the opening ceremony in person, accompa- nied by Chief Kirk Francis of the Penob- scot Indian Nation, Prins, McBride, and singer/songwriter Lisa Redfern. Redfern, an award-winning recording artist from Maine, was asked to write a song to mark the event. Inspired by the stories of his life, she wrote Full Circle Fire: The Ballad of Charles Shay. Redfern performed the ballad oceanside, surrounded by members of the Penobscot tribe, veterans, and soldiers from American and French forces. “I was honored to tell part of his life sto- ry in a song. I first sang it for Charles the night we met,” Lisa Redfern says. “It was moving to see how it touched him.” D uring the proceedings, Shay per- formed his own personal tribute to his fallen brothers. “I performed an Indian smoke ceremony [on Omaha Beach],” he says. “I believe I can take up contact with the souls of the men who are still wandering about on the beaches of Normandy, lost.” Today, on a bluff overlooking the ocean on France’s northern coast, the Charles Shay Memorial Park gazes out over the Brewed fortimes likethese. 4:25PM SEBAGO LAKE SBC.20556.SimmerDownLake.PrintAd.PortlandMag.JulyAugust.2017.FR.indd 1 5/15/17 1:03 PM wide stretch of Omaha Beach to the sea be- yond. The space is marked by a blue granite turtle carved by Shay’s nephew, Penobscot Indian artist Tim Shay, and a single plaque. The inscription reads: “In honor of Charles Norman Shay and in grateful memory of the 500 American and Canadian Indi- an soldiers who participated in Operation Neptune for the liberation of Normandy on D-Day, June 6th, 1944.” n Above: Lisa Redfern performs “Full Circle Fire” at the Charles Shay Memorial Park.