In commemoration of Veterans Day, the American Homefront Project collaborated with the PBS documentary series American Veteran and the companion podcast, American Veteran: Unforgettable Stories, to profile men and women who have served in the U.S military.
As a teenager in the 1940s, Frank DeVita was eager to go fight in World War II. As soon as he graduated high school, he enlisted in the branch of the military that promised to deploy him the fastest: the U.S. Coast Guard.
“My mom was very happy when I went into the Coast Guard because she thought I was going to patrol the beach off Coney Island,” DeVita recalled.
But after just six weeks of training, he was sent to Europe. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, DeVita worked on a landing craft transporting infantry to invade Omaha Beach on the coast of Nazi-occupied France.
Decades later, DeVita shared his memories of that day and the aftermath that haunted him for more than 70 years.
Frank DeVita was recorded by Insignia Films for GBH.
This story was produced by the American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans.
Funding for the American Homefront Project comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Funding for American Veteran was provided by the Wexner Family Charitable Fund, Battelle, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, JPMorgan Chase &Co., and Analog Devices.
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