D-DAY HERO Recalls Lowering the Ramp in FIRST WAVE at Omaha Beach | Frank DeVita

After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and America’s declaration of war in 1941, Frank DeVita, like so many others, badly wanted to serve his country. Only 16 , his mother was required to sign off on his enlistment, which she declined until Frank could at least finish high school. Two years later, Frank graduated and joined the US Coast Guard. Frank served as a Gunner’s Mate Third Class on the USS Samuel Chase (APA-26), a Coast Guard manned US Navy attack transport, for almost three years, in both the European Theater and the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, and in the Occupation and China Service in the Far East following WWII. On D-Day, Frank crewed a Higgins landing craft (LCVP) on repetitive landings, with the task of lowering the boat’s ramp. On the June 6, 1944 D-Day Invasion, his Higgins boat – a part of the first wave - made 15 trips onto Omaha beach in Normandy, France, ferrying solders to the fight and returning with wounded or dead. Interview recorded on July 23, 2020 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Frank Joseph DeVita died peacefully in his home March 12, 2022 at the age of 96. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Support the American Veterans Center's mission to preserve the legacy and history of our heroes by making a tax-deductible donation today: https://americanveteranscenter.org/do... Learn more about the American Veterans Center: http://www.americanveteranscenter.org/ Like us on Facebook:   / americanveteranscenter   Follow us on Twitter:   / avcupdate   Follow us on Instagram:   / americanveteranscenter   Subscribe to the Veterans Chronicles podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/americanvetera... ---------------------------------------------------------------- Timecodes 0:00 - Intro 2:00 - Basic Training 4:00 - Preparations for D-Day 5:24 - The First Wave/Approaching Omaha Beach 8:43 - Into the Jaws of Death 14:55 - Returning the Wounded after the First Wave 18:45 - The Following Waves to Omaha Beach 27:42 - Invasions in the Pacific 30:14 - Back Stateside