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Related: About this forumRAW: WWII veteran recalls storming Omaha Beach on D-Day
Frank Devita was just a 19-year-old Coast Guard member when he was one of the first soldiers to storm Omaha Beach in the Normandy region of France on June 6, 1944. He shared his story ahead of a recent trip to France.
Very moving.
MaryMagdaline
(6,849 posts)Harrowing
OnDoutside
(19,908 posts)MaryMagdaline
(6,849 posts)As is his humanity.
Ive never heard a suggestion that soldiers should have boot camp to break them down for returning to civilian life. Maybe others have said that but I just never heard this before.
His account of going on leave and the next day everyone in his family went back to work or school was touching. Loneliness he could only overcome by getting back to his ship.
This man was really honest and decent person. Left us so much to think about.
OnDoutside
(19,908 posts)Pain he silently suffered for all those years.
That boot camp seems like a great idea.
Rural_Progressive
(1,105 posts)in a P-47 also known as the Thunderbolt. Very versatile plane, one of its most effective uses was for very, very low altitude strafing of troops, vehicles, and infrastructure. Dad says there were times he flew so low on a strafing run he could see the faces of the troops he was flying past.
My entire life he never spoke about anything he did during the war . I had seen his Silver Star, his Distinguished Flying Cross and his other citations. I'd read the abstract of the classified citation that accompanied the Silver Star so I knew he had done something but he'd never speak about it.
He lived back in Maine and I'm in Washington state so we didn't see each other very much for most of my adult life. In 2004 he came out for my daughter's 18th birthday, her HS graduation and her CC graduation. After the festivities I drove him over to the property that we have turned into a farm in Eastern WA. It was just the two of us and he started telling me about his war experiences. There were a lot but the one that's relevant to this post was his telling me about seeing rivers of blood on the beaches as he flew his strafing runs in defensive of the troops landing. He said he was never able to get that vision out of his mind and had lived with it for over 60 years. Apparently we were both dealing with allergies since there was a lot of moisture on each of our faces. Just like Frank, I wish they both had been able to talk about what they went through earlier, what a burden to bear for so long.
I know I will remember for Dad and I'll make sure my granddaughter knows what her great-grandfather did and what he went through.
I wonder if dad was flying over Frank as he was working that landing craft.
MaryMagdaline
(6,849 posts)Very, very hard to live with that alone.
Blessings to your dad, and Happy Fathers Day.