Among the many thousands of Allied troops crossing the stormy sea to France's Normandy coast on the dark night of June 6, 1944, were a few dozen American Indian soldiersincluding Charles Shay and Melvin Neptune from the small village of Indian Island on the Penobscot Reservation in Maine. Serving in the legendary 1st Infantry Division, better known as the Big Red One, they found themselves aboard the same transport ship. Neptune, a battle-hardened scout and rifleman, had fought against German enemy forces in North Africa and Sicily. Shay, recently drafted, was a nineteen-year-old medic newly assigned to the 16th Regiment. They talked about home until midnight, then said farewell. Before dawn, Shay and his platoon boarded a small landing craft to Omaha Beach. At 6.30 a.m., halted by explosives and obstacles about 400 yards from shore, they waded in under horrendous enemy fire. Immediately, many were pierced by bullets or shrapnel, their blood staining the water red....