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
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Frank Joseph DeVita died peacefully in his home March 12, 2022 at the age of 96.
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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