Welcome to the America’s Veterans Stories podcast. Kim Monson is your host. WWII Veteran Frank DaVita joined the Coast Guard to serve our country. He ended up as a ramp operator on a Higgins Boat landing craft on the first wave of soldiers landing at Omaha Beach on D-Day. We are rebroadcasting an interview with DaVita. His children had no idea of his service until he finally talked about the war in 1977. I had the great honor to accompany Frank and three other D-Day Veterans to Normandy in 2016. _________________________________________________ Copyright 2023: America’s Veteran’s Stories Visit us at
SPEAKER 06 :
American war heroes from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. They selflessly served, and these are their stories. America’s Veteran Stories with your host, Kim Monson.
SPEAKER 10 :
Welcome to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Monson. I’m thrilled to have on the line with me Frank DeVita. Frank DeVita is a World War II veteran. He was operating a ramp on First Wave Omaha Beach on D-Day and just a 19-year-old kid when he was doing that. And Frank DeVita, it is really great to have you on the show. Welcome.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you very much.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, so Frank, I know your story, and it is quite a story, but let’s start at the beginning. Where did you grow up? I grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Okay, and how did you end up getting into, you were in the Coast Guard, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
I was in the Coast Guard. I originally tried to get in the Air Force and the Navy. And they wanted me to wait six weeks before I would be accepted. And I didn’t want to wait six weeks. So I went to the Coast Guard, and they took me immediately.
SPEAKER 10 :
What year was that, Frank?
SPEAKER 1 :
1943. 1943.
SPEAKER 10 :
And you were just a kid. I mean, you were 19 years old.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, actually, I was 18 years old. I was 19 until D-Day. My birthday was May 15th, and D-Day was June 6th. So I just turned 19 three weeks earlier.
SPEAKER 10 :
So how did you get over into England? How did you end up on a landing craft first wave of Omaha?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I was a gunner’s mate. My job aboard ship, I was in charge of four 20-millimeter anti-aircraft guns on the stern of the ship. But during the invasion… I was assigned one of the landing crafts. And the reason being that I was a gunner’s mate. I would be manning one of the machine guns on the landing craft. Unfortunately, three weeks before the invasion, they took our guns away on the landing craft. So my next job was to lower the ramp. And that was my job.
SPEAKER 10 :
So these landing craft that went on to Omaha Beach, I mean, did you have any guns? Were you any way to protect yourselves? Or what did that look like exactly?
SPEAKER 05 :
Nothing. Excuse my language. We were embarrassed naked. We had no guns. We took 32 men from the 1st Division, and they had guns, but we did not have guns.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, and what did the landing craft look like? Can you explain to our listeners just what they were exactly?
SPEAKER 05 :
It was 32 feet long. It was made out of plywood, and the only metal on the whole boat was a ramp. It was a two- or three-inch metal ramp. That was the only embellishment. It was made out of plywood. It was what they call a Higgins boat.
SPEAKER 10 :
Right, and those were manufactured down in New Orleans, if I remember right, I think. New Orleans, right.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, so let’s talk about England as you guys were preparing, and I don’t like to call it an invasion. I know that they do, but it was really the liberation of Europe. And so what was going on as you guys were preparing for the liberation on D-Day? Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
My home base was Glasgow, Scotland. That’s where my ship was all the time. And from time to time, we would come up by the channel into the ocean and sail south. So the Germans thought we were going to invade it. But it was just a preliminary, just a scan that saw them off.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, and so you just did maneuvers like that. What about as you were getting closer and closer to D-Day?
SPEAKER 05 :
My understanding is that the weather was just atrocious as you got to… Well, the day before, they had the worst storm in a decade. And we were supposed to invade on June 5th. In fact, some of the boats were already out there, and they had to be called back. The weather was atrocious. So Eisenhower decided to wait. 24 hours. We invaded on June 6th.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay. And now, what did this look like exactly? Did the soldiers get on the landing craft in England, or was it out in the channel, or how did that work exactly?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, my ship went out to Southampton, and that’s where we boarded. Okay.
SPEAKER 10 :
And then as you were going across the channel, what was it like on the landing craft?
SPEAKER 05 :
So consequently, every one of them was seasick on the boat. And when one person shows up and he asks the whole vote, you know, everybody gets it. The waves were terrible. And as we were going in, there were mines in the water, glass mines. Very, very hard to see. So we had to avoid the mines. We were about 11 miles from the beach, and the reason was being the Germans had a gun called the 88, and the range of the 88 was 10 miles. So consequently, the transport stayed 11 miles, which was good for the transport, but it wasn’t good for us because we had to travel two miles, two hours rather, to get to the beach.
SPEAKER 10 :
What was going on? You said the troops had been overfed, and so everybody was losing their lunch. But what else was going on during those two hours as you were approaching Omaha Beach in Normandy?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, every soldier aboard the boat was seasick. Most of them had never seen water before, and the waves were terrible. It was a very, very bad day. And we did our best to help them, but we couldn’t do anything for them. They just had to show up.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay. As you’re coming into the beach, is there anything else you want to tell us about the trip on to trying to get to Omaha Beach? Is there anything else? Yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
After two hours, we got probably maybe 800 yards from the beach. We couldn’t get too close because there were obstacles in the water. And the water was mine. So the closest we could get was maybe 800 yards, and we finished about 200 yards from the beach. So consequently, the soldiers had to walk a way through 200 yards of water to get on the beach.
SPEAKER 10 :
And they were being shot at at the time, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
We all were being shot at.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, Frank, I remember a riveting story that you told me as you approached Omaha Beach, and you said that the machine gun fire, and I think you said they called it Hitler’s typewriter, was hitting the front of the landing craft. Would you share with our listeners that story?
SPEAKER 05 :
The Germans had a machine gun fire. called the MG42, capable of firing 160 rounds per minute. It was called Hitler’s Zipper. That’s what they called it. It was a terrible weapon. And we had machine guns, all around us, like a swarm of hornets all around us. Now, on the beach, where the water meets the sand, The Germans had 33 MG42 machine guns. So consequently, each machine gun picked out a boat. And this one boat, one machine gun picked out my boat. And they were hitting the ramp. And the ramp is made of two or three inch reinforced steel. So the bullets would bounce off it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the troops on the beach while the ramp was up. So I had to drop the ramp. And Mike Coxon, that’s the guy that seated the boat, he yelled to me, drop the ramp. And to tell you the truth, I never heard him because of the roar of the guns and the two big diesel engines behind me. I never heard him. So the second time he yelled, God damn it, he dropped the ramp. And this time I heard him. But I froze for a few seconds because I knew once I dropped that ramp, the machine gun boats that were hitting the ramp would be coming into the boat. I didn’t want to die. So I froze for a few minutes. And then he yelled out for the third time, God damn it, he dropped the effing ramp. And I have no ulcer, no cause. I dropped the ramp. And when I dropped the ramp, the machine that was hitting the ramp came into the boat and probably killed 14 to 15 soldiers immediately.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, and the rest of the guys that got off, how many of them made it to the beach on that first wave?
SPEAKER 05 :
Nobody got off. Only three men got off the beach. You know, on the first wave, this is the first wave, on the first wave, we had 95% casualties. It was a bloodbath. Nobody got on the beach. I got three guys from my boat onto the beach, and they were killed immediately.
SPEAKER 10 :
So, Frank, you saw all this happen, and you guys turn around, and you go back. How far back did you have to go, and you got another group of soldiers?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, fortunately, the guy that commanded my ship, his name was Captain Fritch. He was very smart for each wave. He brought his ship a little closer, making the trip a little shorter. When I dropped the ramp and these guys were killed, there was two soldiers who stayed close to me. I guess they figured if they were close to me, they’d be safe, which wasn’t true. One soldier was about four feet away from me. The other one was two feet away from me. The one that was four feet away from me was cut down immediately by the machine gun. It ripped his stomach open. I don’t know how it happened, but this guy survived. The guy that was two feet away from me, he did not survive. The machine gun tore his helmet off and part of his head. And he was crying, help me, help me, help me. And he fell on my feet. I had no more feet. I couldn’t help him. I couldn’t even help myself. So the only thing I had was the Lord’s Prayer and I started praying. I never finished the Lord’s Prayer. Then I reached down and I touched his hand because I wanted him to know he wasn’t alone. He squeezed my hand a little bit and he died. So now the coxswain says, Danita, lift up the ramp. Let’s get the hell out of here. We were to cross fire. I pulled the handle for the ramp, and the ramp would not come up.
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, my gosh.
SPEAKER 05 :
I pulled it again. The ramp would not come up. I put it on autopilot. It still didn’t come up. I’m responsible for about 25 guys on this boat. Most of them wounded, and they cried, Mama, Mama, Mama. And for some way, I got to get this ramp up. That was my job. So I’m about three-quarters of the way back from the ramp, but I could not see the ramp because there was all these bodies in front of me. So I had to do something I didn’t want to do. I had to crawl over these dead bodies to get to the ramp. And when I finally got to the ramp, I realized why the ramp would not come up, because there were two dead soldiers on the ramp, and they were holding the ramp down. Everybody carried 90 pounds of equipment on their back between the 90 pounds, and their weight, the ramp, would not come up. So I got to take these guys. I had help from some other people. Either a soldier or a crew member, I don’t remember. And we couldn’t get him up. I tried lifting him up, but I couldn’t. I weighed over 125 pounds. So what I did, I decided to grab them by their belt. And the other guy did the same thing. Little by little, little by little, little by little, we got him off the ramp. And the ramp that was on auto went up. So another car accident saw this, and he started backing out. He was a marvelous car accident. He avoided the mines and the obstacles and the water. He was very good. And once he got off in clear water, he turned the boat around, and we headed towards my ship. On the way to the ship, we spotted a hospital ship. So we alternated course, and we headed to the hospital ship. When we got to the hospital ship, the back of the, or I should say the stern of the hospital ship was wide open. And two soldiers, the two guys from the hospital ship, rather, jumped in my boat. And they did something we could not do because we were spent. And what they had to do, they had to take the dead bodies away to get to the wounded on the knee. And they were able to extricate five wounded troops. And they got them out of the hospital. ship. Hopefully, they lived in the next day. So I had to, we turned around, and we headed towards my ship. When we got to my ship, the ship had jumped, what they call a sled, which is like a big garage door. And you can load the troops, the wounded and the dead on that, and the cranes would pick it up. So now someone yelled down, we want one man from every boat to come aboard to be interrogated. So I went up to be interrogated. I was interrogated by a naval officer and a great big army sergeant. And this sergeant, this army sergeant, he put his hand on my shoulder and said to me, it was like a big hug. I really appreciate what he did. And he said to me, son, he said, those machine guns can fire only so many rounds. And then they overheat. At that time, they have to change the barrel. When they change the barrel, that’s when your window of opportunity is. That’s when you drop the rail. So I said to him, this window of opportunity… He said, seven to ten seconds. So I had to put all these guys’ lives into my seven to ten seconds. So I appreciate what he said, and I did exactly what he said. I waited. But unfortunately, while I’m waiting, the troops on the boat were getting a little anxious, and they wanted to get off. They were saying, drop the rail, drop the rail. Well, I had to wait. These guys didn’t realize they were going to go to their death. When the ramp went down, they were cut down immediately. So I waited, I waited, I waited. Eventually, they stopped to change the barrels. And when they changed the barrels, I dropped the ramp. And this time I got seven men off the boat. Unfortunately, they were cut down immediately.
SPEAKER 10 :
Goodness.
SPEAKER 05 :
So then we… back to our ship again, like I said the first time.
SPEAKER 10 :
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All Kim’s sponsors are in inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Monson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmonson.com. That’s Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Veterans Stories. We are rebroadcasting some of the shows that we have recorded in the past because we have these amazing guests and these amazing stories, and we need to hear them. And so we thought that it would be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear our history and know our history because it is so important. So again, this is something that was recorded earlier, and thank you for listening. Okay, so let’s just back up. Seven guys got off the boat. So does that mean that most of the other guys out of the 32 are now on the boat and they’re either dead or wounded also?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, they were either dead or wounded, yes. And they were all crying, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama. It was heartbreaking to hear it, yeah.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, so you go back and… I go back to my ship. Okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
Like I said, they dropped the sled, and I got aboard the ship, and I was interrogated. And then I was standing on the ship by myself, and I said to myself, here I am aboard the ship. I’m alive. I got my two arms and my two legs and my eyes. Do I go back? And I decided if I didn’t go back, someone would have to take my place. And if that man died, that would be on my conscience the rest of my life. So I made a decision to go back into the belly of the beast and face those machines again. I went back, and then I went back 14 more times, 15 times in all. You made 15 trips on D-Day? I made 15 trips. Oh, my gosh. Now, all the troops were not bringing troops into the beach, probably the 6th or 7th or 8th way. Now, when I ran out of troops from the 1st Division, we started taking troops from the 29th Division. So we had troops from the 1st Division and the 29th Division.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay. And so you said you made six or seven with troops. We made six or seven with troops. Okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
And then when we ran into the beach and we had to reverse ourselves and take troops off the beach. So I had to get into the water and with help of the two other guys, I would lift one of the bodies and put it in the boat, lift another one, put it in the boat, lift another one, put it in the boat. And at the end of the day, we took back to my ship. I don’t know how many wounded because there’s no way of telling. But I do know we took 308 dead bodies back to my ship. How do I know there’s 308? Because my good friend John Orr, who was in charge of the body bags, told me that he gave out 308 dead body bags. That’s how I knew we took 308 dead bodies back to my ship.
SPEAKER 10 :
And on those other trips when you weren’t taking troops, were you bringing anything in, or was this just going back and forth to take these dead and wounded back to the ship?
SPEAKER 05 :
Back to the ship. I want to tell you a little story. A lot of people don’t know. We were waiting for the seventh or eighth wave to go in. We were fully loaded, and we couldn’t get in because the whole beach was full of dead bodies. We couldn’t get in. Now, when the transports were leveled, The name of the ship was the Frankfurt. And this guy came into our beach. Our ships have a flat bottom so we can get on the beach. But the destroyer has a keel. And the destroyer cannot get in too close. Otherwise, they get caught on the sand. And they’d be talking practice with the Germans. Now, he came in as close as he could. And then he did something that no ship captain ever does. He turned his ship sideways. So his beam was exposed to the German guns. And the reason he did that, the destroyer has five, four rather, five-inch guns. He wanted to fire his five-inch guns simultaneously. So there was troops up on the hill. I told you about the troops on top of the hill. And they were firing down at some borders, which he used in 88. This guy in Frankfurt fired his four five-inch guns. the German troops on the hill. And right there, the tide of the war changed because four of the destroyers came in and started firing. And then one battleship, and this is an interesting story, the name of the battleship was the Nevada, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The Japanese Every battleship in the fleet, except the Nevada, because the Nevada got on steam and they went up the channel. They got hit a couple of times, but then they beat themselves to keep the channel open. This is the guy, this is a battleship that was in Hawaii when the Japanese bought Pearl Harbor. And here he is three years later, he’s bombing. can’t make this up. It’s like a fairy tale.
SPEAKER 10 :
It is. And so once they did that, and you said that was after maybe the seventh or eighth wave, so they were able to take out some of those machine gun nests then, right? And so that then gave our guys a better opportunity to get onto the beach. Am I understanding that correctly, Frank?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. So one of the boats that we were with that was on, we were fully loaded. And because of these All 32 of them on the beach. And that was the beginning.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, so let’s go back to what time did the first wave go on to Omaha? What time of day?
SPEAKER 05 :
We left 5 o’clock in the morning. That’s a very interesting question. Let me tell you why. Okay. One of the Germans called it the longest day. It really was not the longest day. The whole invasion, you know, Hitler had what he called… His Atlantic wall. He prepared it. For four years, he built up this Atlantic wall. And he said, nobody is going to get onto the beach past my Atlantic wall. 16 hours later. The Germans started with the handkerchiefs and the white flag coming out of their pockets. So it wasn’t the longest day. It was only 16 hours.
SPEAKER 10 :
That is pretty powerful. Hey, Frank, what about Pointe du Hoc? You were so busy, but Pointe du Hoc, when we were there in 2016, looking at those cliffs that the Army Rangers climbed up, tell our listeners just a little bit about Pointe du Hoc.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I had nothing to do with Pointe du Hoc. The Germans were supposed to have four big guns on the top of Pointe du Hoc. And they could have done a lot of damage on the beach. So the rangers, I think there was 200 of them. Only 100 of them came out alive. 200 of them stormed that beach. And actually, they used ladders from the police department, from the fire department. department of London that tried to climb up this cliff. And when they got to the cliff, there were no guns. The guns had been brought in there. So it was futility because a lot of men died for no reason. I told you about the destroyers. One of the destroyers that was with us, he left us and he went to Port Dock because the raiders were in trouble and he helped.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay. And there were so many boats. And let’s talk a little bit about the aircraft that was going over you guys in the sky. I mean, there were so many planes.
SPEAKER 05 :
We don’t like to talk about the aircraft because the aircraft was supposed to bomb the beach before we got in. Unfortunately, there was a stiff wind. And they miss the beach. They kill a lot of cows, but they only kill one German. So we don’t like to talk about the aircraft.
SPEAKER 10 :
So you don’t talk about the aircraft. Okay. Okay. So what else would you like to share with our listeners about those first… seven waves onto the beach. You consistently got more and more guys that made it to the beach. And like you say, then within 16 hours, Hitler said that we could not penetrate his Atlantic wall. And within 16 hours, we had done that. So what else do you want to tell our listeners about those first seven waves?
SPEAKER 05 :
I just want to give accolades to the first division, the big red one. These guys were great soldiers. A lot of them died. A lot of them died. Like I said in the first wave, we had 95% casualties. At the end of the first wave, there was 2,000 dead that were not going to come home to the mountains. It was a bloodbath. It was a really bloodbath. The first wave was terrible.
SPEAKER 10 :
And, Frank, you also, at least I thought that I understood that, you know, many of the guys that got into the boats to go do these additional waves, I mean, they realized you were bringing back dead and wounded. It’s absolutely astounding to me that they got in the boats and, you know, did their duty as well. I mean, I find that just astounding.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s a very good question. I can’t understand how these troops, as we were loading the boats, we were unloading dead from the other boats, and they saw this, and they knew they were going to go an arm’s way, but it didn’t stop them. It didn’t stop them. They were great, great soldiers.
SPEAKER 10 :
Great, great soldiers for sure. Yeah. Frank, so you made, what did you say, 16 trips back and forth on D-Day, is that right? One flight, 15. 15, okay, 15 trips back and forth. At the end of the day, what happened with you?
SPEAKER 05 :
When I made my 15th trip, we went back to the ship. My boat number was 28. The crane came down and picked up the 28 and put it in its cradle. like a little baby. And I looked at that boat, and I said to myself, how did we ever live? That boat looked like shredded wheat. It was old. Busted by the machine guns. Don’t forget, they had a plywood. In fact, I found out later they couldn’t use the boat anymore because it was so badly damaged. So they deep-sixed it. And when I made my second invasion, I was on boat number 10. So you… No, I’m on board ship. Okay. I’m full of vomit and blood. And all the boats are being pulled in one by one. Everybody’s got a story, naturally. And they were serving… She sandwiches and coffee on the best sex. I didn’t want to go on the mess deck because I stunk to high heaven. Plus, I didn’t want to cry in front of my mates. So I walked back to my boat, my guns on the stern of the ship, the 20 millis. And when I got there, I sat down on the wet, cold deck under the 20s, and I felt safe for a while. And then I started thinking to myself, what the hell just happened to me? And why am I still alive? Why am I still alive? And I sat there until it got dark. And when it got dark and my eyes got acclimated to the dark, I looked around to see if anybody else was with me. And then I saw it piled up against the bulkhead next to me. All the dead soldiers piled up like a load of logs. You would pile up a load of logs. And I started crying. And I cried myself to sleep. And the next morning, somebody shook me awake. I think it was Lieutenant Grover. He said, did he get up? We have to unload the dead and the wounded. And Kim, that was my day.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 05 :
That was my day.
SPEAKER 10 :
Frank.
SPEAKER 05 :
And I’m still living with it, Kim. I still cry at night.
SPEAKER 10 :
I know you do.
SPEAKER 05 :
I cry for this little boy that died at my feet. I mean, I saw so many dead, so many dead.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, definitely. Frank, how old are you now? 94 years old.
SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 01 :
All Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Monson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, KimMonson.com. That’s Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Veterans Stories. We are rebroadcasting some of the shows that we have recorded in the past because we have these amazing guests and these amazing stories, and we need to hear them. And so we thought that it would be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear our history and know our history because it is so important. So again, this is something that was recorded earlier, and thank you for listening. This is America’s Veterans Stories, and I am Kim Monson, and I am honored and thrilled to have on the line with me my friend Frank DeVita. He served in the Coast Guard in World War II. He was on one of the landing craft. He operated the ramp on the first wave of Omaha, and the story is absolutely riveting and powerful. And Frank, you know, I got to go to Normandy with you in 2016. You’ve been back a number of times. You’ve taken a lot of folks back to Normandy for the D-Day celebrations, right? Back 11 times. Back 11 times. Yeah. And it’s absolutely moving as people learn these stories. But for a long time, you just held this all in, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
For 70 years, I never talked about it. It was too hard for me to talk about it. And I didn’t want to bring the war home to my family. My wife passed away six years ago, and she died. She never knew my story. Now, one day I got a telephone call from Tom Brokaw’s secretary, and said they were going to do a segment on Omaha Beach, where I was, Easy Red Beach, and ask if I would like to be interviewed. And I said yes. And while I was being interviewed, my children who were there, who never knew anything about it, they were amazed because I never, never talked about it. So now, maybe two or three years ago, A friend of mine said, Frank, I know you have a story to tell, and you should tell it, because these soldiers that died and sailors that died, they can’t tell the story, so you have to be their voice. So since that time, I give seminars. I go to high schools. I talk to kids in school. I go to nursing homes. I go to hospitals, and I tell my story. It’s a very interesting story, I think.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, it is a very interesting story. And, you know, the trip that I got to take with you, I had shared a story with I was on a speak and doing a speaking engagement just recently. And they asked about the World War Two veterans that we had interviewed. And so I told the story about, you know, I don’t know if you remember this. I know where it was. I was at U.S. Constitution Week. I was the emcee for U.S. Constitution Week. up in Grand Lake. And we had someone that was singing the national anthem and I had a really neat hat on. It was a U.S. Constitution Week hat. And I, you know, I was on stage and I said, would you please remove your hats? I removed mine as well. And I told a story, I don’t know if you remember this, that we were in a church in Normandy and I had purchased a really neat D-Day, you know, ball cap. And in this church, there was still bloodstains on the pews. I remember that. Yeah, and I was standing there, didn’t even cross my mind, and you walked by me and you said, take your hat off, you’re in church. And I’ve never forgotten that, Frank DeVita. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
I remember that church with the blood still there.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yep, yep. So let’s talk about the next day after the first day. So what happened the second day with you?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, we left the beach. We were only there one day. We were only there one day for the invasions. And the ship went up to Scotland. And like I told you, that’s where we got the boats. The boats came up. And we stayed in Scotland for quite a while. And then we went on maneuvers because we were going to make the second invasion. The first invasion was June 6th. The second invasion was August 15th. It was the second invasion of southern France. It was not as bad as normally, but every time somebody’s shooting at you, it’s bad.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, that’s for sure. And, you know, I think that that kind of gets lost on the second invasion in southern France. So did you guys go around into the Mediterranean to do that, or where was that at exactly?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, in the Mediterranean, yeah. Okay, okay.
SPEAKER 10 :
But it still, it wasn’t as, well, Omaha… Anytime we were with you guys, and anybody, if you’d say that you were at Omaha Beach, they’re like, those guys really took it there. Utah was not nearly as bad, and then the others, the British and the Canadians, the Australians were on. It was not nearly as tough as what Omaha was. That is where the real…
SPEAKER 05 :
Omaha was the worst, and the reason was the Germans had put a whole division, the 357th German division, on the beach. So we had to face a whole division. All the other beaches did not have that.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay. I remember when we were over there, I was kind of standing behind you and Joe Shida, and you were talking, and I heard you just very lightly say to each other, do you remember the first day the water was red? It wasn’t until the third day that the water was pink. I think that’s absolutely riveting for people to understand that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, you know, on the bottom of the boat, we had pumps to pump out the water, but they couldn’t pump out all the water. And the bottom of the boat was water, but it was red from the soldiers that were diving on my boat. You know, you hear the word mama, and it stays with you your whole life. There’s a little kid, 18, 19, 20. Well, I know even to this day, when we were at the cemetery there in Normandy…
SPEAKER 10 :
I remember you saying they were just kids. They were just kids. And I really think that it’s wonderful that you are speaking about it now and teaching so many of our young people about this history because in some ways it’s getting lost. And it is so important for kids to understand it.
SPEAKER 05 :
We’re losing a thousand veterans a day from the First World War, from the Second World War. A thousand a day.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, and that is one of the reasons why this show is so important, America’s Veterans Stories, to tell your stories on this. Let’s talk a little bit more about you going back on all these trips. When was the first time that you went back? Was that with Tom Brokaw?
SPEAKER 05 :
No, Tom Brokaw was the 70th anniversary.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
I had been back before then.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. I think I went back maybe the 5th. I made so many chips, I don’t remember.
SPEAKER 10 :
I know. And this last time that you went, so you went back for the 75th, just this last year.
SPEAKER 05 :
And I brought 75 people with me.
SPEAKER 10 :
And you took 75 people with you. How did that go, Frank DeVita?
SPEAKER 05 :
It was wonderful, wonderful. We rented 11 houses, and we had a wonderful time. We had a wonderful time.
SPEAKER 10 :
Now, and the president was there as well, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
The president was there, yes. Do you know who Nancy Pelosi is? I do. Well, I know you’re a Democrat. You’re very liberal.
SPEAKER 10 :
No, no, no, no. I call myself a conservatarian. I’m pretty conservative.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. Well, you know who Nancy Pelosi is? She’s not my favorite person.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
So after the ceremony with the president, in fact, the president of France’s wife came up and kissed me. That’s awesome. How many people can say that, right? I don’t think very many can say that at all. We’re in this big tent and we’re talking and I hear a voice and somebody say, where’s this Frank DeVita I heard so much about? I want to meet him. It was Nancy Pelosi.
SPEAKER 10 :
Oh, my gosh. So how did that conversation go?
SPEAKER 05 :
And she came up to me, and she kissed me on both cheeks. And she said to me, you know, we’re both Italian. I said, yes. And she said, how do you like the clay of a soul, white or red? And like I said, she’s not my favorite person, but that particular day, I loved her. She was gracious.
SPEAKER 10 :
Ah, that’s awesome. She was kind. That’s really awesome.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, when you get out of that realm of politics and human beings…
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, that’s for sure. And, you know, Frank, in talking about in America today, I think we need to start to talk about things that unite us. And the stories of World War II, I see across the political spectrum that people really want to learn these stories because it’s inherently American. As tragic as it is, when you talk about the 2,000 soldiers that died on Omaha Beach on D-Day, There’s something inherently American, though, about people that will strap on weapons and go to another country to liberate them and to and to liberate them from the tyranny of the Nazis at that time. It is a pretty unique thing. And I think it’s something that we need to celebrate. And again, that’s one of the reasons why I do this show, Frank.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, Kim, you were back in Normandy, right?
SPEAKER 10 :
Right. We were back. I was with you in 2016.
SPEAKER 05 :
Do you realize how those people love us? Oh, my gosh. They absolutely love us because we liberated them. Took them away from Hitler. Four years of Hitler. They absolutely love us. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER 10 :
Even after all of these years, it was just amazing to me. Being with the four of you, it was like being with rock stars.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, no, no, no.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, I mean it in as much as there were big groups. Let me interrupt you one second.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, okay. I am not a hero. I am not a hero. If you go to the cemetery above Normandy and you see those 9,400 graves, those are my heroes. I am not a hero. I’m a survivor.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, the people of Normandy and people travel from all over Europe for the D-Day celebration. I saw that there were groups, you know, 10 people deep, young people that wanted to get your autographs, that wanted to shake your hand. And then, you know, the families throughout Normandy wanted to have you vets over for dinner. So we got to tag along. And it was such an intimate view of the people of northern France and the appreciation still. shown is just absolutely amazing. Then I remember that we were at one of the schools, and they actually had on the wall in the gymnasium a big picture of Thomas Jefferson, which I found most interesting, Frank.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, you know, Kim, a lot of people say that we liberated France. and we took them out of that big black hole. A lot of people don’t remember, during the Revolutionary War, if it wasn’t for France, we would have lost the war. France really helped us to defeat the British.
SPEAKER 10 :
So we owed them a debt in a way. That’s right. We owed them a debt. What’s around comes around. That’s for sure. I remember one of the schoolchildren at one of the schools that we were at raised their hand and they asked each of you D-Day veterans, were you scared? And how do you answer that question when schoolchildren ask you that question?
SPEAKER 05 :
I can’t say to the children, but we were so scared we wet our pants.
SPEAKER 1 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
Every one of us. I’m not ashamed to say it because we all did. We were frightened out of our wits. Nobody wants to die. Nobody wants to die. But what I was more afraid of, I wasn’t afraid of dying. I was afraid of losing my eyesight, losing my legs. That’s what I was more afraid of.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, Frank, you made it through, and I have to agree that it is so important that you share these stories. I think that it’s a really powerful story. Tell me about when you went back home. What was your family’s reaction? How was it coming home?
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, you’ve seen pictures of the soldiers and sailors coming home, and everybody greets them, and they have a big parade and all that. When I got home, there was nobody there. Nobody to greet me. Nobody, nobody, nobody. I ran home to my house, and we always had a key under the milk box. So I opened the door, and I looked in the house. Nobody was in the house. My dad was at work. My sister was at work. My brother was playing someplace. No, he was at school. My young brother was at school. And I asked where my mother was. And my neighbor said, she’s at the church rolling bandages. So I ran to the church. When I got there, in the assembly room, There was a big crowd of women, a big circle of women, and my mom had her back towards me. But the people that were facing me, when they saw me in uniform, they started pointing. And my mom turned around, and she saw me. She pissed off. I thought I killed my mother.
SPEAKER 10 :
How long before she came to, Frank?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, they got some smelling salts, and she came to me. And we went home, and actually, she was on the telephone to the whole world. Frank is old, Frank is old, Frank is old.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow. So what did you do these 70 years when nobody knew that you were first wave of Omaha? What did you do all those years?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I got a job. I was going out with a girl who eventually became my wife. And I got a job. I was in the clothing industry. And I got a job in Redding, Pennsylvania. And I was there three years learning my craft. Then I came to New York and New Jersey. And I finished my whole life in the garment industry.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, you know, Frank, I’ve been in the garment industry for many years, and I think that you knew one of the people that I worked with, Irving Spitalnik. Oh, definitely. Yeah, yeah, so I knew Irving as well. So we’re just about out of time, Frank. But a couple of things. What is it that you would want to say to the young people in America today?
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s a very good question. Let me tell you why. I go to high schools. Do you know Jeff? I do. At Columbine High School? I do. Okay. So Jeff is at Columbine High School. He asked me to talk to the senior class. I’ve been back five times, and I speak to the senior class. And I tell these kids, most of these kids are probably 18, 19 years old, and I say to them, Go in the service. Put in your 20 years. You get free education. You get free health. You get a pension for the rest of your life. And you’re only 40 years old. You can start another career. And I think I swayed some of the kids. Now, one of the kids…
SPEAKER 09 :
Oops. Okay, last question.
SPEAKER 05 :
When you see the American flag, Frank DeVita, what goes through your mind? Right. when the national anthem is played. Right. Since that day, I don’t watch or go to a football game at all this time, and I never will. If they ever decide to rescind it and they say it was the wrong thing we did, you know, their cause was good. But they should not use the national anthem. They should not. I die. I put my life on the line for my national anthem and my flag. And I would do it again.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, Frank DeVita, any final thoughts that you want to leave with our listeners?
SPEAKER 05 :
Try to help the veterans that are still alive. If you see a veteran, he’ll have a cap on or something like that. Say to them, thank you for your service. Thank you for your service. It means a lot to us.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, Frank DeVita, thank you for your service. It’s a great honor to have gotten to do this interview. And I’m honored to call you my friend. I love you dearly. And this is Kim Monson, America’s Veterans Stories, signing off. God bless you and God bless America.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you, Kim.
SPEAKER 06 :
God bless you. Join us next time for America’s Veteran Stories with your host, Kim Monson. Until then, keep saluting our vets.
