Many do not appreciate what these men have done. I dislike my generation (I'm 31). A generation of selfish, greed, and no empathy. A generation who just wants handouts.
@Patrick Ancona Imagine being a young British soldier flying in on one of the glider infantry planes! We can never repay the men who fought and died for our freedom.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't use that language." This man is at his most vulnerable talking about the horror of war, but was still thoughtful and mindful of his audience. A true gentleman.
I read this comment right when he said it. Weird. But yeah, it’s despicable what they do to our troops. I thought he had a very good idea. A type of basic training for returning to civilian life. Genius.
Jack #142 Lennon yeah I don’t know how that skipped my mind at the time, given that I have relatives that served. I was more thinking from a civilian standpoint
don't get me wrong. I totally respect and do not take for granted that there was still young men on front lines in the face of danger, selflessly risking it all in 2008. I'm talking more from me personally around that time.
i quite literally scrolled down to your comment the moment he said that line. very real. these were amazing men and women. they gave so god damn much for us.
We've already forgotten. The reason why WW2 has happened was that group identity was more important than the sovereignty of an individual. The exact thing is happening right now. The exact mentality is pushed in academia, newspapers, politics. Now, like in the 30s of the 20th century, It's not important who you are, but only the group you belong to.
@@teggianosalerno5050 That is exactly the point guy in the video if explained to you ,but you still don't get it - all it takes to make 2 sides ,and fill em with dumb fks willing to kill for the "right cause" - after you just provide ammo.
I dont think you ever forget the pain. I still suffer PTSD 20 years later, it never never goes away. You have bad days and you have less bad days. These men need to be respected and appreciated a lot more than they do.
@@johnb.8687 your seriously going to be critical about him saying that. What do you get out of life from that. He’s gone through so much, and your just sitting here nitpicking his story. 17, 18, 19 is too young to die, and your just mocking it
Yeah I just commented that. So disrespectful to our veterans putting an add right in the middle of this mans testament of something that was so horrible
"It was only 18 hours." Looking at the scene from Saving Private Ryan which was only about 20 minutes long, that hits even harder. Imagine going through 18 hours of that machine gun and mortar fire with all those land mines and obstacles. Geez I have nothing but the utmost of respect for all our WWII veterans.
My father's friend was there as a 19 year old. He was never able to watch that movie because it hurt too much to relive that day. This man was a multi war USMC officer veteran of decades, but that day wounded him like no other.
@@bcaye yeah the men and women who actually see “the shit” dont talk about it. Whenever I meet some GI Joe who talks about his service constantly I just ignore them
Was suggested by Eleanor Roosvelt at the time. She talked of setting aside a six month "rehabilitation" period, especially for the Marines in the Pacific theater. It went over like a lead balloon. Everyone just wanted to get back home to their former lives. A year or two, and over a dozen attempts at civilian employment later, most veterans agreed that "rehabilitation" might have been a good thing.
It's called "Soldier For Life", a series of classes you must take to outprocess from active duty. Classes range from knowing your benefits as a veteran to how to start a small business. I thought it was a huge fucking waste of time but was stoked to get out of typical duties for a few days.
The fastest milkman in the West we do have resettlement they pay for a course so you can retrain into a new job I think the u.s military pay for university for them as well and if your battalion is any good they run you through the basics of life outside the military and when I was in they gave you a couple of months demobilisation so you still get paid when u leave for a while but I guess there is only so much they can do I think in the British army it was worse when we had junior leaders when u could join at 15 serve your 22 get out at 40 and have never been a adult in civilian life I’m of the view that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to increase the age u can join to 21 that would cut down on a lot of injuries and it would make them more mature
That's what bravery is. It's having the courage to do what you know scares the living piss out of you. I mean yeah, you could call it following orders. But as any vet will tell you who stormed the beaches, a bunker, or a machine gun nest; you're not following orders. You're charging that position to survive, or so the guy next to you survives. Orders, command, plans, none of it matters. The only other option is to die.
Cosmonaut Billy you’re such a piece of shit that has no respect. Please educate yourself why we did what we did and be thankful that we had real men who knew they were gonna die for their country but went anyway. Yeah that’s the definition of bravery. Glad there weren’t men like you around at that time we would have been in trouble.
Jordan Sharpe too bad that wasn’t at all what caused WW2 and what placed this brave man at Omaha beach that day. These men stormed the beach that day most of them knowing there fate was likely death. The definition of bravery
Have you ever seen the documentary "The Greatest Story Never Told"? If not then I recommend it to you, you can watch it for free at thegreateststorynevertold.tv or just tgsnt.tv
@@alisonhilll4317Exactly my point. That is all because we fought on the wrong side, as said by US General Patton before his mysterious car crash death. What sense did it make for America, France and Britain to side with the Communists against a peaceful Christian nation, and yes Hitler did want peace not war, he made 22 peace offers to the Allies and Churchill rejected them all. A good book on the subject, is "What the World Rejected: Hitler's Peace Offers 1933-1940", available on Amazon. He even had the Luftwaffe drop thousands of tabloid sized leaflets over Southern England in July 1940 titled "A last appeal to reason" which implored the British public to pressure their leaders into stopping this madness and accepting yet another peace offer. I am lucky enough to own an original copy of one of these leaflets. When that failed he sent Deputy Reichsfuhrer Rudolf Hess to fly solo to meet the Duke of Hamilton in Scotland who, unlike Churchill wanted peace and was influential enough to perhaps have gotten it had Hess succeeded. Instead, Hess crash landed just 1 mile from the Duke's residence and was locked away for the rest of his life in Spandau prison until his highly suspicious death in 1987. Even Before the war Hitler regularly espoused his admiration for the British and even offered to protect any part of the British empire with German force of arms should the need arise. This is why he allowed 300,000 British servicemen time to retreat at Dunkirk, saying "we are not in the business of killing Aryans". We British, under Churchill's command, responded by flattening most of Germany and murdering millions of Germans all because Winston Churchill was under the thumb of Viktor Rothschild since it was he who financed Churchill's lavish lifestyle. I'm sure you know all this, I'm mainly writing it for the uninformed. Today Germany is Israel's bitch. Paying billions every year in "reparations", including building them 2 dolphin class nuclear submarines and donating them totally freely to Israel. Martin Shulz, President of the European Parliament for 5 years and a German politician is quoted as saying “For me, the new Germany exists only in order to ensure the existence of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”
@@silverbullet2008bbHistory is a lie agreed on by the victors , in this case Zionist Israel , all the rest is history and more wars than we have ever seen . You are well read , but lots of people are catching up . I just hope it does not take another war to make more converts .
Instead they put of hundreds of murals and statues of people like George fucking floyd. Dude held a pregnant women at gunpoint, these heroes held a beach under mg fire.
My father, Jack Keith was a 19 year old medic that landed on Omaha Beach on the 2nd day. He told me he was busy for 24 hours attending to wounded GIs and readying them for evacuation. He was with a Signal Corp company throughout the war, including the Battle of the Bulge. He always got choked up telling about their liberation of a prison camp. He was a good man and I miss him.
@@AEON. im 18 how old are you? I think ive written about as me and anything just as much as you I feel like we can all relate I know its not gay or anything like that but I love my fellow men who can relate instead of the ones who just brag because Real men do not.
William Keith how old was your father? My uncle was on Utah beach he wrote his experiences & how he felt in the moment. He’s gone for 15 years we found this dday story after he passed & we made copies and handed it out at the funeral. He NEVER EVER TALKED ABOUT ANYTHING. He said even at the end of his life 60+ years he said he could still smell, taste, visualize the sheer terror as they had no clue the landing would be an ambush. He was 1 of 8 out of 300 men that made if off the beach. And remember u spent a lot of time with the other guys & u have to watch them die his best friend died next to him
My grandmothers brother, Claude Benavidez, stormed Omaha on his 18th birthday, radioman. I never had a chance to talk to him, he died in 2001. But my dad did, he said that each time he looked back at the ocean of the beaches, it got more & more red.
2K men k.i.a. but you whooped their asses. Clap! Clap! Bravo! You do know that the US strategic tactics which took place at D-Day is considered the worst example in today's military academy, right? Anyway, God bless those boys for giving out their best kicking those germans butts.
My dad cried out for his mom during his time in Vietnam. I’ll forever respect him for admitting that he felt real fear. It made him more relatable even though he was much more of a man than I’ll ever be.
"75 years since D-day" "No, yesterday." Words cannot describe how i feel... I'll... just say thank you for your service and thank you for your heroic deeds sir.
Yep... Omaha beach was just the beginning for our brave Soldiers... the immense bravery that was required is just incomprehensible. In fact, I truly believe middle and high schoolers of a certain age should be required to under go a certain amount of tests and videos. These MEN, although only 17 years old mostly, gave their tender, young lives for us. Some think, “well, the were forced to do it”.. I wasn’t forced in 2004.. I wanted to kick enemy ass ASAP. Back to the subject though, the many other battles that went on for years were even more of a mind killer for our Heroes... Battle of the Bulge was no joke. The numerous beach invasions were just insane and in humane, but those young guys lying in the bitter cold trenches for days.. waiting for the Nazis to finally commence was as equal to the Omaha Beach invasion, as well as Gettysburg... God bless these men and women.
@Lori Loud IMMORTAL COMMUNIST UTTP THDTC ANTIFA SJW I am so baffled that you have the odacitey to say such things to the older generation If you were in america I would have no respect to you .
By 2030 there may very well be no more WWII veterans alive. We are as close to 2030 as we are to 2008 which seems like yesterday. Please seek out any veteran of that war and tell them thank you. Soon they will all be gone. They truly are the greatest generation of Americans who have ever lived.
Don’t tread on me Yes, indeed. They were cursed, yelled at, and heckled when coming back from Nam. At least that happened to me in 1971 at the airport in Baltimore, waiting to change planes to my final destination. Unforgettable.
What the fuck, he's 93 in this video!! He's so insanely sharp for that age. I hope he understands just how many people he's reached and taught something very important too through this video as well as all the speaking he's done
Y. My dad joined the Navy right after graduation in June of '42. He got out in February of '46. Almost 4 years in, straight out of high school. He didn't see combat quite up close like this guy (he was crew on an attack transport, like this guy motored his landing craft from), but he didn't come out the innocent kid who joined up right outa high school.
@@DoomiePookie do you think that's what he's doing? Just making up shit to sound tough? Do you think he's drowning in pussy when he tells these stories?
uh dude he was crying lmfao. he wipes the tears from his eyes with a hankerchief. also there was an MP on every boat that would shoot anyone who refused to storm the beach. look it up.
Just the anti war pussys that’s all. Fuck them. No way anyone should dislike this if your American. I don’t even think a German soldier would dislike this. They would respect this man.
Ok, so you would rather pay? I really don’t understand these kind of comments. Jesus Christ, we are provided a free of charge service for content that is worth billions. Its like people act that shit is free in life. No. UA-cam and the content creators (you know, the ones hired and paid to film, edit and upload/broadcast) need to get paid somehow, and this is how they can do that for the cost of you watching one measly “scummy ad” (which you can skip by the way). If you don’t want ads, then *pay for it.* UA-cam premium or whatever it is called. You give people an inch, they demand a mile... This is the reality of this world. It doesn’t matter how touching or heart wrenching this content is, I would rather the content be created in the first place than not at all because of no funding for the project. Thats what it comes down to. Money was spent for this and money needs to be recouped to make it sustainable. No free lunch. Edit: And I’m not even really a big fan of UA-cam’s policies either, especially surrounding the “Adpocalypse” scandal. Just taking a different perspective.
When he said they made 15 trips, my jaw hit the floor. Having done that even once is extraordinary. Going back over and over again, knowing what would happen... I can't even imagine.
This man risked his life to save others, even if it was just one...This is a true hero...Truly an Amazing Man... When he said that I asked myself if I would go back and I just know, I can't answer that, because of this man! I will never have to ask myself that... Thank You SIR!!
I remember watching a very in depth documentary about Omaha and the German beach defenses. Those first waves of men who landed were literally cut to pieces. Having to witness and go through all that...and your job is to ferry more of them into the meat grinder. Just mind blowing.
It is amazing how something so tramatic burns it's self into your memory. The sounds. The smells. The fears. Time can't erase that. You remember it like it really was yesterday. It doesn't fade from memory. It really does become a part of you.
Time flies. When you are young, you don't really know how quickly time accelerates for adults because time passes so relatively slowly. The days used to stretch out, birthdays and Christmas took forever to come round again... The last 35 years of my life seemed to pass by the same as the first 10 years did and it now feels like Christmas comes around twice a month!
@@myeffulgenthairyballssay9358 This is so true...I only wished I'd realized how fast time flies when I was younger...but you don't think of or care about those things then...
@@myeffulgenthairyballssay9358 I know what you mean, and I'm getting to the point where a month is like a week to me and a week is like a day I don't want to happen to me just yeeeeeet
I'm a 27 year old man living a decent life with my family and close friends if it wasn't for these heroic men i wouldn't have what i have now and i'm really thankful for everything they did for us. Thank you for everything guys you're all amazing people and i love you all and that's coming from my heart.
MrWeezler Thank you sir for your compassion and understanding on such a heated topic. However history remembers this war, I hope we can extend the same kind of respect to all the young German boys that died as well. No one deserved what happened in WW2 except the lunatics in charge and the ones that agreed with this nonsense on the world. I realize that only 10% of Germans actually supported the Nazis and we all need to recognize the struggles from all sides involved.
The tremor in his voice got me, I could feel him reliving it all. God bless this man and thank you for sharing your story with us. Utmost respect, we owe our freedom to your service,
I do like that story. Because it's extremely horrible what they went through, but that story was quite nice. The pain and horror just left its like and it was okay suddenly. I used to be an atheist I'm a Christian now. So I've been both in my life.
@@TrunkMonkey3000 Glad you found your soul. We didnt happen in this universe by chance. But Im sure you see that now. I was just like you. Then it became too much to deny anymore. Peace!
@@ralphralpherson9441 you are actually more of a christian than me because christians are the ones who went through heartbreak and struggles or the christians born and doctrined into this world at age 0 which is good. but i turned away from God because of my mother its not Gods fault my mother acts the way she does or my father but the hatred from the people who abused cant just go away I dont want to be an atheist either because they are full of ego some are christians I think my mother is but my life has more meaning than hers shes not rotten but older so i will forget about if need be I just wish someone could blow in my face to make me stronger I just wish I had help. as for men I suppose I have to create it get help from women or men or both? my thoughts are contradicting.
Fifteen trips into that hellfire. FIFTEEN. TRIPS. I’m so glad this man survived to tell his story and maybe get a little closure/peace from revisiting Normandy.
19:08 "And this time I got 8 guys on the beach... Of course they were cut down immediately... I'd rather not go any further" - The visuals and images this man has seen are beyond comprehension. An amazing hero, thank you so damn much for your service.
Crazy to me that not even 1 minute before they were yelling to lower the ramp and that they wanted to get up that damn beach, then a minute later they are all dead on the sand. Every memory formed, every emotion felt, every bond and connection made, just gone in a fraction of a second. I thank jesus for dying on that cross to save men like them.
"The kids from Vietnam and Iraq" Never in my 25 years, have i ever heard the nam guys referred to as "kids." Holy shit. This man truely is from that generation....
Daniel Cannata he is saying that cause he is apart of the ww2 generation. And his son I bet was in the Vietnam era and that’s his kid. So he thinks of everyone else being kids. Truly though, they are.
He refers to them as kids because he knows alot of service members just turned 18 he only calls them kids because of how young they were during the conflicts
How were those machine guns still operating after all those trips back and forth? Surely the generals had to think of a better strategy than sending young men to be mown down. Surely you've got to lay down some suppressing fire on those machine guns at least while you're lowering the ramps. Just send some armoured boats with guns and shoot back at the German machine guns so they don't have the freedom to aim and shoot at will.
The idea at the time was the naval bombardment would pulverize the bunkers and fortifications on the beach and the landing wouldn’t be nearly as contested as it was. The bombardment fired over the fortifications and missed most of them. I forget exactly why they fired too high but this is coming from what I remember from our tour guide at the D-Day memorial in Bedford.
OH MY GOD wow!!!!! Can you tell me everything about your trip there? Do you have to book an appointment for the tour? How was the overall experience at the beach?
Every time an ad popped up I wanted to smash my phone. Literally in tears hanging onto every word this man says, all of a sudden some stupid ass hip hop music and fast food shoved in my face
I agree. An an ad interrupting this man's story every two and a half-minutes, non-stop, through 3/4 of the video, where I finally had enough and said PHOCK U, yew-tube, and shut it off. Ridiculous and pathetic.
For me, that hit the hardest. Here he is... recalling this horror. And he says, "We kicked their ass" and is ashamed. Sir. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
My grandfather was a Screaming Eagle in the US Air force that helped clear that beach for the invasion. He was born in 1921 and died a yr and a half ago at 98 and could repeat the stories perfectly. He still lived alone, drove, and took complete care of himself thank goodness. And his father served in WWI and my grandfather up until 2017 recounted all the stories his father had told him about it also. I recorded them all as I am a genealogist and wanted to have my grandfather's stories saved for us but for history also. We are from the Brushy Mountains of North Carolina........I sure miss my Papaw.
An officer aboard the ship at sea which was where the landing soldiers were lowering themselves down into the crafts for the next trips to the shore. DeVita was hastily debriefed before going in (AGAIN) The officer saw him, DeVita, and realized what his job was. The entire front half of his uniform was covered, painted, by blood, from the bodies of his peers who died in the crafts when he dropped the ramps. He was already visibly in trauma from the trips he had already taken in. the officer came over to him, gently, calmly, put his hand on DeVitas shoulder. "Son, They have to change the barrel. When they're changing the barrel, they can't shoot. When you don't hear bullets hitting the ramp, that's when you can drop the ramp...Ok?" 17:38 -19:17
@@Rustsamurai1 I was in a fatal car accident, I understand how this crap works as well. Trama is real LOL, what this poor man has to go through is absolutely terrible =/. I hope you're allright too, this stuff is unlike anything else
D Day and having 17-20 year olds being blown to bits in front of you repeatedly and the channel turning red with blood compares with very little out there. But this isn't about comparing, I've been told stories of men who've had to first hand blow up humans using children as shields. There is so, so many too willing to do evil in this world. So much hurt and curruption, greed and anger. Having these images burned into your mind, maybe some can relate, but to have them for 70+ years... And to keep them inside (enough with the masculinity bashing, some people just struggle talking about their feelings, much less something this horrific and graphic, hell many people's brains kick in PTSD and literally black out that memory). In an age of erasing history and censorship, this needs to be at the forefront.
Frank Devita and my father, Philip Mehl, from Chicago, both were shipmates on the USS Samuel Chase, a Navy troop transport manned by the Coast Guard. He and my father were the same age and were the 2 youngest crewmembers. Both of them were crewmembers on the landing craft known as Higgins Boats. My father is pictured in Life Magazine right after taking bodies to a hospital ship. He is seen on the hospital ship looking down at the stacks of body bags. I have that Life magazine issue from June, 19, 1944. He would have loved to have seen this video of Frank. My mother is still alive at age 94 and she will be thrilled when I tell her about Frank Devita's interview. It is possible that my father met Frank when he went to the USS Samuel Chase reunion in San Diego some time in the 1990's. After listening to Frank I now know why my father would not talk much about his experience on D-Day. His landing craft also went to Omaha Beach.
My Grandfather Anthony Merola from Brooklyn also was a crew member on a Higgins during D day at 18 years old..,unfortunately he passed 15 years ago,wish I could sit and enjoy Italian pastry's and Coffee with him again,he never talked about his war experience as it would be like reliving it,..So much I wish I asked him,.Bless all these men,True legends...
Honestly after spending 12 years in the Army I feel the same. It was a tough transition, no one helped. I don't see how anyone does it. I still haven't adapted.
Mad Ranter thank you for you’re service. My grandfather served in Korea. They don’t call it the forgotten war for nothing. Korea was a subject that was never mentioned. His entire life he suffered in silence over what he saw and went through.
S Rob I agree. It is unfortunate we have movies and shows about everything else but Korea but these men faces the same horrors and hardships the rest of them did.
Thank you for your service! My grandpa and my great uncle had fought in Korea. All my grandfather would say was “ I was there. And that’s all.” And just those short words made an uneasy feeling.
The pain in his voice hits me hard. Our veterans deserve so much respect ❤ I was having a bad day today and I went down this youtube veteran stories rabbit hole and I am BEYOND humbled.
His account of how the military broke him down but never built him back up when they were finished with him... Despicable, heart wrenching, enraging. Love this man. So much.
It really hurts to see how hard this poor guy had it after serving in the war and how soon everyone forgets that our freedom is only because of brave men and women who served our country.
This was one of the hardest things I've ever watched. Blessings to this man who's had to carry these painful memories for so long. What a selfless man to share this with those of us who never had to go through a hell on earth like that. 85% of the first wave were killed. He does them great honor.
Thankfully the factual statistics are readily available to anybody who wants to look them up. Loss percent ( killed ) on D-Day at the individual beaches : Sword: 0.87% Juno: 1.57% Gold: 1.4% Omaha: 8.2% Utah: 0.85%
@@GorGob They didn't want to use smoke because it would obscure rally points and naval gunfire targets. Amtracs would not have been able to climb the shingle and certainly not the bluffs on Omaha. They did try to put ashore the swimming DD tanks, but those were never designed for rough seas. D-Day occurred on the last day of a severe channel storm and rough seas were not anticipated. However, the Allies needed a certain tide, a full moon and enough weeks to break out of Normandy before autumn rains hampered air support. The real cock-ups were in the Huertgen Forest and Market-Garden. So many casualties that the Army planning board had to start drafting 18 yr old and put them in shortened training.
His emphasis on saying that these soldiers were kids is so key when talking about these things in history. So many of these soldiers weren’t full grown men, they were 18-year-olds with an entire life ahead of them and they sacrificed not just their lives but their life*times* and all their potential. It’s beyond horrific and nothing but heroic.
You sir, are a credit to your country, as is your generation. As a Brit, I would like to say thank you to you and all servicemen and women from around the world. THANK YOU.
“Too young to drink, too young to vote, we were too young to die” that sent chills down my back. This man is so pure, bad ass, courageous and bright. Thank you for your service sir. I salute you
Love this guy. "WE WHOOPED THEIR ASS!!!" God Bless You. My grandfather was a motor man in the battle of the bulge. I lost him years ago, so I like getting on here and listening to stories like he once told.
My grandpa was infantry in the battle of the bulge. I never got a chance to speak to him because he passed when I was little. He has 2 bronze stars and the Purple Heart. My aunt told me a story that he and a few other men snuck behind enemy lines and killed a bunch of waffen ss troops and then snuck back to U.S lines.
@@griffinwiegert527 he was probably part of "No Slack". Google them, amazing unit that had a major part in that battle. I'm sure he fought hard, God bless'um.
Just Joe I know he was in Africa too. But he was hit by a German grenade that left shrapnel in his arm. I am trying to find out what battalion he was in. But I’m having so much trouble
man this was hard to watch. i have 20 years in the army, 4 deployments, and this made me tear up. true heroes like this man are the reason i joined in the first place. thank you for your service and sacrifices sir
Seared into memory. It galvanized the construct of his intellect. Lifelong Deductive Reasoning, from such momentary yet gargantuan impact traumatic experience.
Mr Devita's account and recollections are riveting. If you ever wanted to know just how young soldiers felt that day, just listen to him. In my book he is a true hero... after his first run on the landing craft he seemed to have a chance to not do it again, yet he did it 14 more times, and he was just a kid himself. I hope he received a medal for his actions that day.
I absolutely agree he should get a medal and understand your wish for that completely. However, this is the kind of guy who not only wouldn't care about medals, he honestly wouldn't want it because he would genuinely feel he didn't deserve it. He is certainly the kind of man who would say he wasn't a hero, but he was surrounded by them.
@@DarkSouls2201 Thank you. But your comment made me feel guilty because it sounds like you might have thought those were my words. They are actually a paraphrase of the last line in a book about WW2 called Band and Brothers (also was a great HBO series). The actual quote was what the author of the book, Dick Winters, said to his grandson when the grandson ask him "were you a hero in the war". The exact answer he gave and the line in the book was "No, but I served in the company of Heroes". Almost brings me to tears every time I read or hear it, so that's what I meant what I said the man in the video sounds like someone who would say that. I'm sorry if you or anyone else thought I was pawning off the words in my post as being my own- they aren't. But thank you for your remark, and it IS a beautiful quote!
@@thecityman1910 If a quote or phrase sticks with you, it is yours as much as anyone's. Once spoken, we cannot expect to "own" our words. But I understand you trying to give credit where credit is due.
As someone with PTSD. I can tell you when he was recalling this incidents. They were playing in his head like he was still there seeing it. And thats why he cries.
"Many of nights I get into bed, and cant sleep. I think of that kid with red hair, and half his face that was shot away" That made me tear up. 75 years of having to deal with that is to sad
When I turned 18 and graduated high school, my father told me I couldn't live at home anymore, so I enlisted in the Army - I went 11B with airborne contract - I served in the 25th ID, 82nd and 101st airborne division - Franks's story really hit home for me - You could never believe how much I miss my buddies -
This man is a very close friend of my wife’s family, so close they call him Uncle Frankie. I have had the honor of meeting him twice. A Walmart parking lot and he was at my wedding. Once I learned of his service I wanted so bad to talk to him, but I knew that would be wrong so I never asked him about it. Once he learned I was in the navy for about 18 years at the time he thanked me for my service and praised me up and down. I felt bad because I felt like I didn’t deserve it compared to what he went through. I also told him about my father’s service and later I saw him go shake my father’s hand and thank him as well. He also warned me that I better be good to his close friend’s daughter, my late father in law, Joe Novi. A very good man!! Words cannot describe the kind of man he is!! I also hope he changes his mind and writes the book. I will buy multiple copies and pass them down to family members to keep his and those our men stories alive! Remember these men, don’t dismiss them so easily because you don’t know our country’s history! Open a book about this war, battle and day. You’ll be impressed in what you learn about men like Frank Devita! GBU Uncle Frankie, I’m grateful I know you!!!!
My friend, please put me in touch with this man! I'm a writer and I will do this no charge. Thank you for your service also, men and women like you are the noblest of professions x
@@rogerhazen3664 so you will force him to write a book with a petition... WTF! he sayed he dont want to write a book so a fucking petiton will not change his mind a pedition would be the disrespectfulles move ever
As a grown man I don’t think I’ve ever cried so hard. My grandfather fought in Vietnam and has refused to tell me stories to this day. Hearing this graphic first hand detail of ww2 makes me bawl like a baby.
My father was in the Navy for 20 years and he "never" talked to us kids about the war. After he passed away 12 years ago my mother told me some things about my father and the effects it had on him for many years after WW2 war was over.
what a fine human, and what a horrible, horrible day he had to go through.I am german, born in 1979. I feel very moved, and very humble, and very grateful. We are so grateful for what these kids did. And it hurts how hard it was on them.
@@JedemPoKucama bro I’m only 15 I can’t believe what these ppl went through, but the worst part of life is that Ik more ppl will go through this in the future, soldiers, our children, everyone and it’s so heartbreaking
Yeah, so great the young Americans learned thast wars are just shit and one should not go and invade nations where one has not business like the nazi’s did………….wait
The strength it takes to recall all of these tragic memories is unreal. We can nearly hold back tears watching this never mind living this… thank you for your service, it’s because of you that we all live today
I'm 19 today. Living a cushy life because this man at 19 was a hero. I swear people don't know how lucky they are.
It's like people are slowly forgetting
Many do not appreciate what these men have done. I dislike my generation (I'm 31). A generation of selfish, greed, and no empathy. A generation who just wants handouts.
@Patrick Ancona Imagine being a young British soldier flying in on one of the glider infantry planes! We can never repay the men who fought and died for our freedom.
yes and he got to where he is cause of the world war 1 guys and so forth!! that was not the first war americans fought in!!!
Haha we all know only women had challenges back in the day...
"I'm sorry I shouldn't use that language."
This man is at his most vulnerable talking about the horror of war, but was still thoughtful and mindful of his audience. A true gentleman.
@Loonytoones85 what the fuck is wrong with you
@Loonytoones85 Toxic femininity is cancer
This man made me cry my eyeballs out.
"KIDS"
We have become weak and oversensitive. If only the good side had won.
He is 94 years old and looks as if though hes 74. God bless
seriously, he genuinely looks 15+ years younger than he is
He'd probably look 45 if he never experienced these horrors. God bless him.
Perhaps 84, my father is 74 and looks younger.
@@traderbychoice7560 your father must look good for his age. I agree, he looks like he's in his mid 70s
Yes he looks 74
"We were too young to drink... we were too young to vote... but weren't too young to die."
Heavy shit, man.
I read this comment right when he said it. Weird. But yeah, it’s despicable what they do to our troops.
I thought he had a very good idea. A type of basic training for returning to civilian life. Genius.
VERY HEAVY! Damn!
@@Misssydney yeah for sure alot of veterans have trouble readjusting to civilian life
Yep, that one hit me hard too. Brutal.
This will be top comment and I'm glad.
I was a care free 19 year old in 2008 because this man was a 19 year old hero 1944.
I'm lost for words. Thank you sir.
You are appreciated.
how could you be care free in 2008? especially at that age, that shit was depressing.
@@dictionarypictionary9872 the recession was bad yes, but in comparison to what the soldier went through it was practically care free
@@bigtoke9456 in 2008 a lot of us were in iraq and afghanistan...
Jack #142 Lennon yeah I don’t know how that skipped my mind at the time, given that I have relatives that served. I was more thinking from a civilian standpoint
don't get me wrong. I totally respect and do not take for granted that there was still young men on front lines in the face of danger, selflessly risking it all in 2008. I'm talking more from me personally around that time.
Wow he looks like he's in his 60's but he's almost 100 years old!! Amazing!!!
who tfk do you know that looks like that at 60
Right, even his speech is great for his age
Sacred Raisin Cakes hes also crying thinking about the tragedy on D-day.
@@danielballer1292 meth addicts
Daniel Baller me
"To young to drink,to young to vote but not too young to die" - God speed to all of them
i quite literally scrolled down to your comment the moment he said that line. very real. these were amazing men and women. they gave so god damn much for us.
I felt a tear in the corner of my eye.
That hurt's man, even tho we haven't felt anything close to what he has gone trough.
Big Woody this mine made me choke up
what does god speed mean?
"It's going to be forgotten history, we shouldn't let it die"
We will never forget Sir, never.
We've already forgotten. The reason why WW2 has happened was that group identity was more important than the sovereignty of an individual. The exact thing is happening right now. The exact mentality is pushed in academia, newspapers, politics. Now, like in the 30s of the 20th century, It's not important who you are, but only the group you belong to.
@@wellbi you're right, I just hope there is enough of us on the other side of this madness.
teggiano salerno I fear for that day, but when it comes, I will be ready.
tell that to the leftists destroying statues and ww2 memorials.
@@teggianosalerno5050 That is exactly the point guy in the video if explained to you ,but you still don't get it - all it takes to make 2 sides ,and fill em with dumb fks willing to kill for the "right cause" - after you just provide ammo.
Just try imagine how bad it was if a MAN 75 years later still crying when he is Talking about this...
Carabella hardly any of us can imagine watching men die helplessly I’m front of us like that... it was horrifying.
It made me sad seeing it
Remember: He said it was like “yesterday.”
I dont think you ever forget the pain. I still suffer PTSD 20 years later, it never never goes away. You have bad days and you have less bad days. These men need to be respected and appreciated a lot more than they do.
he didn't failed a test..he went through literally hell and back
“We were too young to drink,
We were too young to vote,
But we weren’t too young to die.”
That hit me right in the heart. God bless your soul.
I’m not positive but I think the drinking age was 18 back in those days. So unless he was 17 then that’s not true
@@johnb.8687 your seriously going to be critical about him saying that. What do you get out of life from that. He’s gone through so much, and your just sitting here nitpicking his story. 17, 18, 19 is too young to die, and your just mocking it
John B. Completely irrelevant to the point lol
@@johnb.8687 Why even mention that
That... the hardest words a man can speak.
Putting ads and interrupting this mans story is disgusting.
adblock?
Yeah I just commented that. So disrespectful to our veterans putting an add right in the middle of this mans testament of something that was so horrible
its 2020 and you dont use adblocker, thats whats disgusting. Yikes buddy.
yea that pissed me off there was about like 10 commercials on a 20 minut video
Especially lying political attack ads.
"It was only 18 hours."
Looking at the scene from Saving Private Ryan which was only about 20 minutes long, that hits even harder. Imagine going through 18 hours of that machine gun and mortar fire with all those land mines and obstacles. Geez I have nothing but the utmost of respect for all our WWII veterans.
My father's friend was there as a 19 year old. He was never able to watch that movie because it hurt too much to relive that day. This man was a multi war USMC officer veteran of decades, but that day wounded him like no other.
@@bcaye yeah the men and women who actually see “the shit” dont talk about it. Whenever I meet some GI Joe who talks about his service constantly I just ignore them
That's based on actual accounts, as recorded by Steven Ambrose.
Including the guy who picked up his own arm and put it in his satchel.
@@bcaye The USMC weren’t involved with d-day though.
@@TheIfifi, he was USA at that juncture. He servered in a
L
Basic training for returning to civilian live is a brilliant idea. You're a smart man Frank..
Especially when they went in at 17 and returned older
Was suggested by Eleanor Roosvelt at the time. She talked of setting aside a six month "rehabilitation" period, especially for the Marines in the Pacific theater. It went over like a lead balloon. Everyone just wanted to get back home to their former lives. A year or two, and over a dozen attempts at civilian employment later, most veterans agreed that "rehabilitation" might have been a good thing.
It's called "Soldier For Life", a series of classes you must take to outprocess from active duty. Classes range from knowing your benefits as a veteran to how to start a small business. I thought it was a huge fucking waste of time but was stoked to get out of typical duties for a few days.
Bill Stelling in the U.K. we have resettlement
The fastest milkman in the West we do have resettlement they pay for a course so you can retrain into a new job I think the u.s military pay for university for them as well and if your battalion is any good they run you through the basics of life outside the military and when I was in they gave you a couple of months demobilisation so you still get paid when u leave for a while but I guess there is only so much they can do I think in the British army it was worse when we had junior leaders when u could join at 15 serve your 22 get out at 40 and have never been a adult in civilian life I’m of the view that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to increase the age u can join to 21 that would cut down on a lot of injuries and it would make them more mature
“We whooped their ass” greatest quote ever! Absolute LEGEND
“Ripped”
Hopefully NEVER forgotten because of men like him
What he technically said ;) is we 18,19,20 yr old KIDS whooped the seasoned Germans---who outnumbered them 12, 15, 18 to 1...asses !! ;) :)
@@goldmanjace You had to edit a stupid comment like that to get it all that idiocy & projection out ? He went back into the battle.
@@goldmanjace what the fuck is wrong with you? Jesus Christ mate!
The greatest generation, this beast of a man went back 15 times... utterly incredible
Not the grestest generation
ozark mountains interesting, popular consensus thinks otherwise...
Why do you disagree?
Reminds me of Desmond doss
@@ozarkmountains4947 *Toughest generation
@@ozarkmountains4947 ok fortkid
RIP Frank. I can't imagine the anguish this man went through during, and after, the war. We are free because of him. Rest easy hero.
The greatest generation for a reason. "Only the dead have seen the end of war" - Plato
rip tony stark
The greatest generation is always yet unborn: unspoken American proverb.
-Plato
--- Call of Duty 2
Hi
The hurt in that mans heart. God bless you sir and thank you for your incredible bravery.
That's what bravery is. It's having the courage to do what you know scares the living piss out of you. I mean yeah, you could call it following orders. But as any vet will tell you who stormed the beaches, a bunker, or a machine gun nest; you're not following orders. You're charging that position to survive, or so the guy next to you survives. Orders, command, plans, none of it matters. The only other option is to die.
Cosmonaut Billy you’re such a piece of shit that has no respect. Please educate yourself why we did what we did and be thankful that we had real men who knew they were gonna die for their country but went anyway. Yeah that’s the definition of bravery. Glad there weren’t men like you around at that time we would have been in trouble.
Jordan Sharpe too bad that wasn’t at all what caused WW2 and what placed this brave man at Omaha beach that day. These men stormed the beach that day most of them knowing there fate was likely death. The definition of bravery
@@cosmonautbilly9570 i bet you are a brave kid you fuck face
This guy is a man that risked his like for his country what’s To all the Biebers got say out there, would never be man like this
I can’t lie, I teared up, such a selfless man... men like this saved the world
Have you ever seen the documentary "The Greatest Story Never Told"? If not then I recommend it to you, you can watch it for free at thegreateststorynevertold.tv or just tgsnt.tv
@@silverbullet2008bbYes we still need saving from the Zionist bankers .
@@alisonhilll4317Exactly my point. That is all because we fought on the wrong side, as said by US General Patton before his mysterious car crash death. What sense did it make for America, France and Britain to side with the Communists against a peaceful Christian nation, and yes Hitler did want peace not war, he made 22 peace offers to the Allies and Churchill rejected them all. A good book on the subject, is "What the World Rejected: Hitler's Peace Offers 1933-1940", available on Amazon. He even had the Luftwaffe drop thousands of tabloid sized leaflets over Southern England in July 1940 titled "A last appeal to reason" which implored the British public to pressure their leaders into stopping this madness and accepting yet another peace offer. I am lucky enough to own an original copy of one of these leaflets.
When that failed he sent Deputy Reichsfuhrer Rudolf Hess to fly solo to meet the Duke of Hamilton in Scotland who, unlike Churchill wanted peace and was influential enough to perhaps have gotten it had Hess succeeded. Instead, Hess crash landed just 1 mile from the Duke's residence and was locked away for the rest of his life in Spandau prison until his highly suspicious death in 1987. Even Before the war Hitler regularly espoused his admiration for the British and even offered to protect any part of the British empire with German force of arms should the need arise. This is why he allowed 300,000 British servicemen time to retreat at Dunkirk, saying "we are not in the business of killing Aryans". We British, under Churchill's command, responded by flattening most of Germany and murdering millions of Germans all because Winston Churchill was under the thumb of Viktor Rothschild since it was he who financed Churchill's lavish lifestyle. I'm sure you know all this, I'm mainly writing it for the uninformed.
Today Germany is Israel's bitch. Paying billions every year in "reparations", including building them 2 dolphin class nuclear submarines and donating them totally freely to Israel. Martin Shulz, President of the European Parliament for 5 years and a German politician is quoted as saying “For me, the new Germany exists only in order to ensure the existence of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”
@@silverbullet2008bbHistory is a lie agreed on by the victors , in this case Zionist Israel , all the rest is history and more wars than we have ever seen . You are well read , but lots of people are catching up . I just hope it does not take another war to make more converts .
silverbullet2008bb long live Israel
This is the type of people that deserve statues and schools named after them. Every word is so legendary in my book. Your a true American treasure. 👍
Factual
Instead they put of hundreds of murals and statues of people like George fucking floyd. Dude held a pregnant women at gunpoint, these heroes held a beach under mg fire.
@@Hawkz00 okay bro…
And now we have a neo nazi problem in America smh
Can’t even imagine what his eyes have seen at such a young age
And not even just because he was young. Crazy for any age. What a hero
My father, Jack Keith was a 19 year old medic that landed on Omaha Beach on the 2nd day. He told me he was busy for 24 hours attending to wounded GIs and readying them for evacuation. He was with a Signal Corp company throughout the war, including the Battle of the Bulge. He always got choked up telling about their liberation of a prison camp. He was a good man and I miss him.
@@AEON. im 18 how old are you? I think ive written about as me and anything just as much as you I feel like we can all relate I know its not gay or anything like that but I love my fellow men who can relate instead of the ones who just brag because Real men do not.
William Keith how old was your father? My uncle was on Utah beach he wrote his experiences & how he felt in the moment. He’s gone for 15 years we found this dday story after he passed & we made copies and handed it out at the funeral. He NEVER EVER TALKED ABOUT ANYTHING. He said even at the end of his life 60+ years he said he could still smell, taste, visualize the sheer terror as they had no clue the landing would be an ambush. He was 1 of 8 out of 300 men that made if off the beach. And remember u spent a lot of time with the other guys & u have to watch them die his best friend died next to him
My grandmothers brother, Claude Benavidez, stormed Omaha on his 18th birthday, radioman. I never had a chance to talk to him, he died in 2001. But my dad did, he said that each time he looked back at the ocean of the beaches, it got more & more red.
@@philipbenavidez4887 wow, thank you for sharing.
My great grandfather was captured by Rommel in Algeria. He spent 22 months in a pow camp, maybe your father saved my great grandfathers life....
He says” the Germans were seasoned, we were just a bunch of kids. And we whooped their ass!” Hell yeah thank you for your service sir. A true hero
That part got me. Just a bunch of badasses.
A bald eagle screeched as he said that... It wasn't on the audio but we all heard it
2K men k.i.a. but you whooped their asses. Clap! Clap! Bravo!
You do know that the US strategic tactics which took place at D-Day is considered the worst example in today's military academy, right?
Anyway, God bless those boys for giving out their best kicking those germans butts.
@@ssssin320 Do me a favor and shut the fuck up
@@ssssin320 What you expect? 90% of americans still believe that THEY defeated Germany...
My dad cried out for his mom during his time in Vietnam. I’ll forever respect him for admitting that he felt real fear. It made him more relatable even though he was much more of a man than I’ll ever be.
"75 years since D-day"
"No, yesterday."
Words cannot describe how i feel... I'll... just say thank you for your service and thank you for your heroic deeds sir.
same
"It was only 18 hours"
Imagine spending "only" 18 hours in that hell.
Yep... Omaha beach was just the beginning for our brave Soldiers... the immense bravery that was required is just incomprehensible.
In fact, I truly believe middle and high schoolers of a certain age should be required to under go a certain amount of tests and videos.
These MEN, although only 17 years old mostly, gave their tender, young lives for us.
Some think, “well, the were forced to do it”..
I wasn’t forced in 2004.. I wanted to kick enemy ass ASAP.
Back to the subject though, the many other battles that went on for years were even more of a mind killer for our Heroes...
Battle of the Bulge was no joke. The numerous beach invasions were just insane and in humane, but those young guys lying in the bitter cold trenches for days.. waiting for the Nazis to finally commence was as equal to the Omaha Beach invasion, as well as Gettysburg...
God bless these men and women.
from 4:am to 10:pm small estimate 10K people died, full estimate 19K
Imagene 1 hour that is bad as the 18 or so
Great soldier he is
@Lori Loud IMMORTAL COMMUNIST UTTP THDTC ANTIFA SJW so wrong
Show respect
@Lori Loud IMMORTAL COMMUNIST UTTP THDTC ANTIFA SJW I am so baffled that you have the odacitey to say such things to the older generation
If you were in america I would have no respect to you .
The pain in his voice is just heartbreaking, such a beautiful soul.
I agree bro but with that profile pic I can only think of spilled special recipe
@@pegasusofdark3768 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂💀
@@pegasusofdark3768 Hahahaha
yeah
My grandfather was in WWII. He refused to talk about it. I feel the pain in this man’s story and it’s no wonder my grandfather couldn’t talk about it
By 2030 there may very well be no more WWII veterans alive. We are as close to 2030 as we are to 2008 which seems like yesterday. Please seek out any veteran of that war and tell them thank you. Soon they will all be gone. They truly are the greatest generation of Americans who have ever lived.
Chump Johnson ALSO TELL THE VIETNAM VETS THANK YOU AND TELL THEM THANK YOU AS WELL !!!!
Don’t tread on me
Valid point and I absolutely thank them as well.
Don’t tread on me
Yes, indeed. They were cursed, yelled at, and heckled when coming back from Nam.
At least that happened to me in 1971 at the airport in Baltimore, waiting to change planes to my final destination.
Unforgettable.
Guillermo Garraton
I’m sorry you went through that. Thank you for your service sir.
What about the people who fought in the civil war for our own country/freedom
What the fuck, he's 93 in this video!! He's so insanely sharp for that age. I hope he understands just how many people he's reached and taught something very important too through this video as well as all the speaking he's done
Can’t even imagine the fact that it was kids my age on the beach. Jesus Christ.
I want to be a trench soldier when i grow up- wait wrong year
Y. My dad joined the Navy right after graduation in June of '42. He got out in February of '46. Almost 4 years in, straight out of high school. He didn't see combat quite up close like this guy (he was crew on an attack transport, like this guy motored his landing craft from), but he didn't come out the innocent kid who joined up right outa high school.
Isaac k this old prick is full of shit....just making up stories to sound tough and shit.
It's not uncommon for people under 15 to go to war
@@DoomiePookie do you think that's what he's doing? Just making up shit to sound tough? Do you think he's drowning in pussy when he tells these stories?
What breaks my heart is throughout the whole interview he sounds like he’s gonna cry it’s so sad!
He's so strong, he can fight back tears. What a horrible curse to live with such memories :(
70 years of dealing with it, will teach a lot of control.
uh dude he was crying lmfao. he wipes the tears from his eyes with a hankerchief. also there was an MP on every boat that would shoot anyone who refused to storm the beach. look it up.
@@Runescape. Plot Twist: it was him who shot the kid that landed at his feet.
@@ricardogalindo2988 smh. Sad
Honestly I'm kinda pissed about how many dislikes there is on this video, I see this man and his story as true heroism and bravery
Yeah I don't see the point
Just the anti war pussys that’s all. Fuck them. No way anyone should dislike this if your American. I don’t even think a German soldier would dislike this. They would respect this man.
They hate the military and dont understand that the military is the reason they are able to state their opinion freely.
Deenie Beenie disliking war is fine. Who doesn’t. It’s horrible and devastating. But you respect the ones who were ordered to go no matter what.
Deenie Beenie see that. We agree. I enjoyed the chat. Let me know if there is anything else on your mind 😃😃😃
the way he simplified D-day to "just 18hrs"... spoken like a person who has been to hell and back. God Bless our Veterans.
Rodney O makes me believe every soldier on that day was looking at the time and saying “damn it’s only been that long?”
@@slendertony8814
Makes you wish that time wasn't relevant, huh?
To him and many it may feel like the longest day of their lives
It probably was a blip compared to everything else they went through, a big blip, but it was just one event in a very long series of events.
Compare this great generation of men...to the no balls masked antifa....Amarica is wounded with disgusting democraps
It’s kinda scummy to put ads in the middle of his story
Vape Naysh I agree
Ok, so you would rather pay? I really don’t understand these kind of comments. Jesus Christ, we are provided a free of charge service for content that is worth billions.
Its like people act that shit is free in life. No. UA-cam and the content creators (you know, the ones hired and paid to film, edit and upload/broadcast) need to get paid somehow, and this is how they can do that for the cost of you watching one measly “scummy ad” (which you can skip by the way).
If you don’t want ads, then *pay for it.* UA-cam premium or whatever it is called.
You give people an inch, they demand a mile... This is the reality of this world. It doesn’t matter how touching or heart wrenching this content is, I would rather the content be created in the first place than not at all because of no funding for the project.
Thats what it comes down to. Money was spent for this and money needs to be recouped to make it sustainable. No free lunch.
Edit: And I’m not even really a big fan of UA-cam’s policies either, especially surrounding the “Adpocalypse” scandal. Just taking a different perspective.
Their algorithm doesn’t know the difference, but yes it is
Run AdBlock Plus and never see a ad in any youtube video again
Why? What's wrong with making money? This guy went to war so capitalism could live on. Nothing wrong with a hustle.
As an Iraq war vet, I have nothing but HUGE respect for this man and all he served with. 10000% respect. Thank you, sir.
You can remove the first five words too.
@@Pleb.Z That sounds callous, but I agree. Iraq was a slaughter, not an actual war with an equal opponent.
@@Pleb.Z right. And where did you serve? Hey skyjuice thank you for your service. Absolutely awesome
Bro fuck off with Iraq. That was a useless mission. Idgaf if you went to Iraq.
Well, at least in ww2 they won the war
"He was just a little boy" god damnit I'm trying so hard not to cry to this mans story
Matt Fuentes I tried and failed!
Complete Lettuce Nope at 46 I’m too old to join or be drafted.
Why are you crying ?Tf wrong with you
cry more pussy
Pussy
When he said they made 15 trips, my jaw hit the floor. Having done that even once is extraordinary. Going back over and over again, knowing what would happen... I can't even imagine.
This man risked his life to save others, even if it was just one...This is a true hero...Truly an Amazing Man... When he said that I asked myself if I would go back and I just know, I can't answer that, because of this man! I will never have to ask myself that... Thank You SIR!!
Definitely
I remember watching a very in depth documentary about Omaha and the German beach defenses. Those first waves of men who landed were literally cut to pieces. Having to witness and go through all that...and your job is to ferry more of them into the meat grinder. Just mind blowing.
Can’t even image being that brave. I it doesn’t even register to me.
for 18 hours they fought
4:55
"Soo, 75 years since D-day...."
"No no, yesterday..."
Alright that broke my heart.
It is amazing how something so tramatic burns it's self into your memory. The sounds. The smells. The fears. Time can't erase that. You remember it like it really was yesterday. It doesn't fade from memory. It really does become a part of you.
They aren't joking when they say war is hell
Time flies. When you are young, you don't really know how quickly time accelerates for adults because time passes so relatively slowly. The days used to stretch out, birthdays and Christmas took forever to come round again...
The last 35 years of my life seemed to pass by the same as the first 10 years did and it now feels like Christmas comes around twice a month!
@@myeffulgenthairyballssay9358 This is so true...I only wished I'd realized how fast time flies when I was younger...but you don't think of or care about those things then...
@@myeffulgenthairyballssay9358 I know what you mean, and I'm getting to the point where a month is like a week to me and a week is like a day
I don't want to happen to me just yeeeeeet
I'm a 27 year old man living a decent life with my family and close friends if it wasn't for these heroic men i wouldn't have what i have now and i'm really thankful for everything they did for us. Thank you for everything guys you're all amazing people and i love you all and that's coming from my heart.
German here. We will never allow anything like WW2 to happen again.
Nothing but love and respect for this humble man
Vilen danke.
Amen Brother
I'm a German American Widow .. horrors from BOTH sides . Das tiut mir lied ...
MrWeezler Thank you sir for your compassion and understanding on such a heated topic. However history remembers this war, I hope we can extend the same kind of respect to all the young German boys that died as well. No one deserved what happened in WW2 except the lunatics in charge and the ones that agreed with this nonsense on the world. I realize that only 10% of Germans actually supported the Nazis and we all need to recognize the struggles from all sides involved.
Ww3 about to start
Witness what a real man looks like. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your service.
God Bless him, he doesn’t have to apologize for anything .
The tremor in his voice got me, I could feel him reliving it all. God bless this man and thank you for sharing your story with us. Utmost respect, we owe our freedom to your service,
"Our father, who art in heaven... and i never finished the prayer"
That got me. And im not a very religious person.
I do like that story. Because it's extremely horrible what they went through, but that story was quite nice. The pain and horror just left its like and it was okay suddenly. I used to be an atheist I'm a Christian now. So I've been both in my life.
@@TrunkMonkey3000 Nice 😎 I might do that too eventually
@@TrunkMonkey3000 Glad you found your soul. We didnt happen in this universe by chance. But Im sure you see that now. I was just like you. Then it became too much to deny anymore. Peace!
Same here.
@@ralphralpherson9441 you are actually more of a christian than me because christians are the ones who went through heartbreak and struggles or the christians born and doctrined into this world at age 0 which is good. but i turned away from God because of my mother its not Gods fault my mother acts the way she does or my father but the hatred from the people who abused cant just go away I dont want to be an atheist either because they are full of ego some are christians I think my mother is but my life has more meaning than hers shes not rotten but older so i will forget about if need be I just wish someone could blow in my face to make me stronger I just wish I had help. as for men I suppose I have to create it get help from women or men or both? my thoughts are contradicting.
Fifteen trips into that hellfire.
FIFTEEN. TRIPS.
I’m so glad this man survived to tell his story and maybe get a little closure/peace from revisiting Normandy.
The goddamn things I complain about, I feel sick that I ever have complained about anything in my life.
don't worry, these men sacrificed their lives so that you can worry about "lesser" things, it means they won
😓
Then stop complaining about things that dont matter. It doesn't help anyone.
19:08 "And this time I got 8 guys on the beach... Of course they were cut down immediately... I'd rather not go any further" - The visuals and images this man has seen are beyond comprehension. An amazing hero, thank you so damn much for your service.
Crazy to me that not even 1 minute before they were yelling to lower the ramp and that they wanted to get up that damn beach, then a minute later they are all dead on the sand. Every memory formed, every emotion felt, every bond and connection made, just gone in a fraction of a second. I thank jesus for dying on that cross to save men like them.
"The kids from Vietnam and Iraq"
Never in my 25 years, have i ever heard the nam guys referred to as "kids."
Holy shit. This man truely is from that generation....
Daniel Cannata he is saying that cause he is apart of the ww2 generation. And his son I bet was in the Vietnam era and that’s his kid. So he thinks of everyone else being kids. Truly though, they are.
He refers to them as kids because he knows alot of service members just turned 18 he only calls them kids because of how young they were during the conflicts
@@Kyle_Godfrey111 At 18 you are still a kid no matter what you think., you are not a man.
lol maybe he call them kids cause they lost nam
Anybody younger than me is a kid.. even if you have kids you’re still a kid. :)
“I got 8 guys on the beach...
And of course they got cut down immediately”
Damn that hit so hard
i got 8 guys on a beach once
How were those machine guns still operating after all those trips back and forth? Surely the generals had to think of a better strategy than sending young men to be mown down. Surely you've got to lay down some suppressing fire on those machine guns at least while you're lowering the ramps. Just send some armoured boats with guns and shoot back at the German machine guns so they don't have the freedom to aim and shoot at will.
The idea at the time was the naval bombardment would pulverize the bunkers and fortifications on the beach and the landing wouldn’t be nearly as contested as it was. The bombardment fired over the fortifications and missed most of them. I forget exactly why they fired too high but this is coming from what I remember from our tour guide at the D-Day memorial in Bedford.
OH MY GOD wow!!!!! Can you tell me everything about your trip there? Do you have to book an appointment for the tour? How was the overall experience at the beach?
@@myAutoGen the landing at Omaha *had* every advantage. Sometimes it just doesn't matter.
Suddenly my troubles don't seem that bad at all.
It's okay to feel bad and stressed out, it's human nature. But definitely keep this video handy when you want a slap of reality 😂
The pain and realness in his voice. God I Hope there’s a blissful afterlife for those who deserving
I rarely get emotional but when i heard this man tell his story i fkn cried
Same here, unbelievably sad
Every time an ad popped up I wanted to smash my phone. Literally in tears hanging onto every word this man says, all of a sudden some stupid ass hip hop music and fast food shoved in my face
youtube popup blocker is a must! no way I let stupid adds filter this!
@Steve Irwin Yeah, UA-cam creates the problem and then offers you a playable solution.
Just use Adblock+.
@@Daedalus-ed5nd He is on a phone
I agree. An an ad interrupting this man's story every two and a half-minutes, non-stop, through 3/4 of the video, where I finally had enough and said PHOCK U, yew-tube, and shut it off. Ridiculous and pathetic.
“Sorry..I shouldn’t use that language”
I just want to give him a big hug
Seriously powerful stuff, he's still concerned with being polite when describing something as awful as war. This guy is awesome
For me, that hit the hardest.
Here he is... recalling this horror. And he says, "We kicked their ass" and is ashamed.
Sir. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
oversoul think about holding all that shame, all that anger, all that sadness...for 80 years.
Hi
My grandfather was a Screaming Eagle in the US Air force that helped clear that beach for the invasion. He was born in 1921 and died a yr and a half ago at 98 and could repeat the stories perfectly. He still lived alone, drove, and took complete care of himself thank goodness. And his father served in WWI and my grandfather up until 2017 recounted all the stories his father had told him about it also. I recorded them all as I am a genealogist and wanted to have my grandfather's stories saved for us but for history also. We are from the Brushy Mountains of North Carolina........I sure miss my Papaw.
D Day was 18 hours but a lifetime of pain for this man God bless him
An officer aboard the ship at sea which was where the landing soldiers were lowering themselves down into the crafts for the next trips to the shore.
DeVita was hastily debriefed before going in (AGAIN)
The officer saw him, DeVita, and realized what his job was.
The entire front half of his uniform was covered, painted, by blood, from the bodies of his peers who died in the crafts when he dropped the ramps. He was already visibly in trauma from the trips he had already taken in.
the officer came over to him, gently, calmly, put his hand on DeVitas shoulder.
"Son,
They have to change the barrel.
When they're changing the barrel, they can't shoot. When you don't hear bullets hitting the ramp, that's when you can drop the ramp...Ok?"
17:38 -19:17
“I shouldn’t say men” that line kills me.
I can't imagine having these images, ingrained in your mind for the rest of you life.. God Bless this man. !!
I can. It's happened to me.
It happens to police, firemen , paramedics on a regular basis. Some moments in time are burned in your retina forever.
@@Rustsamurai1 I was in a fatal car accident, I understand how this crap works as well. Trama is real LOL, what this poor man has to go through is absolutely terrible =/. I hope you're allright too, this stuff is unlike anything else
Lol there's no comparing to a war zone 😅🤣 and especially ww2 Dday what a bloody mess fuck outta here with police and 911 services 🤣
D Day and having 17-20 year olds being blown to bits in front of you repeatedly and the channel turning red with blood compares with very little out there. But this isn't about comparing, I've been told stories of men who've had to first hand blow up humans using children as shields. There is so, so many too willing to do evil in this world. So much hurt and curruption, greed and anger. Having these images burned into your mind, maybe some can relate, but to have them for 70+ years... And to keep them inside (enough with the masculinity bashing, some people just struggle talking about their feelings, much less something this horrific and graphic, hell many people's brains kick in PTSD and literally black out that memory). In an age of erasing history and censorship, this needs to be at the forefront.
I do not have the words to describe my depth of respect for this hero and that entire generation
Frank Devita and my father, Philip Mehl, from Chicago, both were shipmates on the USS Samuel Chase, a Navy troop transport manned by the Coast Guard. He and my father were the same age and were the 2 youngest crewmembers. Both of them were crewmembers on the landing craft known as Higgins Boats. My father is pictured in Life Magazine right after taking bodies to a hospital ship. He is seen on the hospital ship looking down at the stacks of body bags. I have that Life magazine issue from June, 19, 1944. He would have loved to have seen this video of Frank. My mother is still alive at age 94 and she will be thrilled when I tell her about Frank Devita's interview. It is possible that my father met Frank when he went to the USS Samuel Chase reunion in San Diego some time in the 1990's. After listening to Frank I now know why my father would not talk much about his experience on D-Day. His landing craft also went to Omaha Beach.
Be proud Steve we will never see their like again
Thanks to your Dad for his service Mr Mehl. And thanks to Mr Devita and all who gave and risked their tomorrows for our todays.
Steve Mehl that is incredible
Hello
My Grandfather Anthony Merola from Brooklyn also was a crew member on a Higgins during D day at 18 years old..,unfortunately he passed 15 years ago,wish I could sit and enjoy Italian pastry's and Coffee with him again,he never talked about his war experience as it would be like reliving it,..So much I wish I asked him,.Bless all these men,True legends...
"They should have basic training for when your leaving service" 😔
I read your comment as he said it😭😭
Honestly after spending 12 years in the Army I feel the same. It was a tough transition, no one helped. I don't see how anyone does it. I still haven't adapted.
@@DJxSGGxNeo Im still working on it too. Some days are easy and others are not.
Curtis - totally agree.
if you are hurting inside or out i'm sending you a massive hug. Do not bottle it up.
I served in Afghanistan.
My grandfather served in Korea, he never said a word about it.
Mad Ranter thank you for you’re service. My grandfather served in Korea. They don’t call it the forgotten war for nothing. Korea was a subject that was never mentioned. His entire life he suffered in silence over what he saw and went through.
S Rob I agree. It is unfortunate we have movies and shows about everything else but Korea but these men faces the same horrors and hardships the rest of them did.
Thank you for your service!
My grandpa and my great uncle had fought in Korea. All my grandfather would say was “ I was there. And that’s all.” And just those short words made an uneasy feeling.
Rock Watson definitely an uneasy feeling!
My grandad never said a word about Korea till he died, we only knew of a few things, to this day we don’t know what he experienced over there
The pain in his voice hits me hard. Our veterans deserve so much respect ❤ I was having a bad day today and I went down this youtube veteran stories rabbit hole and I am BEYOND humbled.
His account of how the military broke him down but never built him back up when they were finished with him...
Despicable, heart wrenching, enraging.
Love this man.
So much.
Their used and looked at as objects, assets, just another number in the military, not as human beings, it’s a sad shame !
It really hurts to see how hard this poor guy had it after serving in the war and how soon everyone forgets that our freedom is only because of brave men and women who served our country.
This was one of the hardest things I've ever watched. Blessings to this man who's had to carry these painful memories for so long. What a selfless man to share this with those of us who never had to go through a hell on earth like that. 85% of the first wave were killed. He does them great honor.
It's insane they didn't smokebomb the beaches before invasion or have wheels on landing crafts to drive way up the beach. Allied leaders fucked up.
Thankfully the factual statistics are readily available to anybody who wants to look them up.
Loss percent ( killed ) on D-Day at the individual beaches :
Sword: 0.87%
Juno: 1.57%
Gold: 1.4%
Omaha: 8.2%
Utah: 0.85%
@@flyingdutchman6984
Yes, but in those first hours on Omaha it was a catastrophe and Bradley considered shutting Omaha down.
@@GorGob
They didn't want to use smoke because it would obscure rally points and naval gunfire targets. Amtracs would not have been able to climb the shingle and certainly not the bluffs on Omaha. They did try to put ashore the swimming DD tanks, but those were never designed for rough seas. D-Day occurred on the last day of a severe channel storm and rough seas were not anticipated. However, the Allies needed a certain tide, a full moon and enough weeks to break out of Normandy before autumn rains hampered air support.
The real cock-ups were in the Huertgen Forest and Market-Garden. So many casualties that the Army planning board had to start drafting 18 yr old and put them in shortened training.
@@@GorGob They trained with smoke bombs at the beaches of England but the wind would just blow it away so it was pointless.
His emphasis on saying that these soldiers were kids is so key when talking about these things in history. So many of these soldiers weren’t full grown men, they were 18-year-olds with an entire life ahead of them and they sacrificed not just their lives but their life*times* and all their potential. It’s beyond horrific and nothing but heroic.
He is the epitome of Badass, he saw the horrors of war and CHOSE to go back 15 times. His story is one that needs to be heard
You sir, are a credit to your country, as is your generation. As a Brit, I would like to say thank you to you and all servicemen and women from around the world. THANK YOU.
War. Is. Hell. I'm a military vet watching this in tears. Thank your military vets, this shit is rough.
“Too young to drink, too young to vote, we were too young to die” that sent chills down my back. This man is so pure, bad ass, courageous and bright. Thank you for your service sir. I salute you
He said we weren’t too young to die
Love this guy. "WE WHOOPED THEIR ASS!!!"
God Bless You.
My grandfather was a motor man in the battle of the bulge. I lost him years ago, so I like getting on here and listening to stories like he once told.
My grandpa was infantry in the battle of the bulge. I never got a chance to speak to him because he passed when I was little. He has 2 bronze stars and the Purple Heart. My aunt told me a story that he and a few other men snuck behind enemy lines and killed a bunch of waffen ss troops and then snuck back to U.S lines.
@@griffinwiegert527 he was probably part of "No Slack". Google them, amazing unit that had a major part in that battle. I'm sure he fought hard, God bless'um.
Just Joe I know he was in Africa too. But he was hit by a German grenade that left shrapnel in his arm. I am trying to find out what battalion he was in. But I’m having so much trouble
@@griffinwiegert527 hmm, if you had more info or his 214 there's people to email. Good luck to ya
@PICK IT & IT'LL NEVER HEAL He said *ripped their ass*
man this was hard to watch. i have 20 years in the army, 4 deployments, and this made me tear up. true heroes like this man are the reason i joined in the first place. thank you for your service and sacrifices sir
josh ferguson shut up pussy
josh ferguson 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
@@Jmagee2113 serious? Come on man, have some dignity.
@@segro123 big ass n is a bit++. No respectful man says stuff like that he's a punk
@@ownSystem sure sounds like it.
Imagine after 70 darn years and you’re still dealing with this kind of pain?
Seared into memory.
It galvanized the construct of his intellect.
Lifelong Deductive Reasoning, from such momentary yet gargantuan impact traumatic experience.
“They broke us down, but they never helped build us back up.”
The emotion and pain in his voice, even 70 years later. God Bless this man and those that fought with him
Mr Devita's account and recollections are riveting. If you ever wanted to know just how young soldiers felt that day, just listen to him. In my book he is a true hero... after his first run on the landing craft he seemed to have a chance to not do it again, yet he did it 14 more times, and he was just a kid himself. I hope he received a medal for his actions that day.
@clock9596 The Book Of Courage And Honor
I absolutely agree he should get a medal and understand your wish for that completely. However, this is the kind of guy who not only wouldn't care about medals, he honestly wouldn't want it because he would genuinely feel he didn't deserve it. He is certainly the kind of man who would say he wasn't a hero, but he was surrounded by them.
@@thecityman1910 " He is certainly the kind of man who would say he wasn't a hero, but he was surrounded by them." Beautiful sir.
@@DarkSouls2201 Thank you. But your comment made me feel guilty because it sounds like you might have thought those were my words. They are actually a paraphrase of the last line in a book about WW2 called Band and Brothers (also was a great HBO series). The actual quote was what the author of the book, Dick Winters, said to his grandson when the grandson ask him "were you a hero in the war". The exact answer he gave and the line in the book was "No, but I served in the company of Heroes". Almost brings me to tears every time I read or hear it, so that's what I meant what I said the man in the video sounds like someone who would say that. I'm sorry if you or anyone else thought I was pawning off the words in my post as being my own- they aren't. But thank you for your remark, and it IS a beautiful quote!
@@thecityman1910 If a quote or phrase sticks with you, it is yours as much as anyone's. Once spoken, we cannot expect to "own" our words.
But I understand you trying to give credit where credit is due.
This man witnessed hundreds of young men die just feet away. The nightmares he must have...
As someone with PTSD. I can tell you when he was recalling this incidents. They were playing in his head like he was still there seeing it. And thats why he cries.
"Some of 'em never shaved. Never even shaved."
It is horrible how young they were.
Imagine a transition to a Dollar Shave Club ad
My God that hurt.
"Many of nights I get into bed, and cant sleep. I think of that kid with red hair, and half his face that was shot away"
That made me tear up. 75 years of having to deal with that is to sad
I was born in 1982 My life has been full of joy and freedom Thank you
When I turned 18 and graduated high school, my father told me I couldn't live at home anymore, so I enlisted in the Army - I went 11B with airborne contract - I served in the 25th ID, 82nd and 101st airborne division - Franks's story really hit home for me - You could never believe how much I miss my buddies -
they are home
where they are
war is just a far distance memories
why would a father kick his son out of house?
i don't get it
maybe cuz i am strange to american culture
@@songoku6425 I don't think you understand what I was saying
there dead
war is but a memory
@@de-fx3499 i was asking the guy thAT COMMENTED THAT HIS FATHER TOLD HIM HE CAN'T STAY HOME ANYMORE
"I couldn't help myself, how could I help him." You remembered him, Sir.
What a beautiful thought
This man is a very close friend of my wife’s family, so close they call him Uncle Frankie. I have had the honor of meeting him twice. A Walmart parking lot and he was at my wedding. Once I learned of his service I wanted so bad to talk to him, but I knew that would be wrong so I never asked him about it. Once he learned I was in the navy for about 18 years at the time he thanked me for my service and praised me up and down. I felt bad because I felt like I didn’t deserve it compared to what he went through. I also told him about my father’s service and later I saw him go shake my father’s hand and thank him as well. He also warned me that I better be good to his close friend’s daughter, my late father in law, Joe Novi. A very good man!! Words cannot describe the kind of man he is!! I also hope he changes his mind and writes the book. I will buy multiple copies and pass them down to family members to keep his and those our men stories alive! Remember these men, don’t dismiss them so easily because you don’t know our country’s history! Open a book about this war, battle and day. You’ll be impressed in what you learn about men like Frank Devita! GBU Uncle Frankie, I’m grateful I know you!!!!
Jeffrey H. Strauch I hope he writes a book too!
Amazing story truly
Is it possible he will write the book? What if we put up a petition for like 10k signatures for him to write the book?
My friend, please put me in touch with this man! I'm a writer and I will do this no charge. Thank you for your service also, men and women like you are the noblest of professions x
@@rogerhazen3664 so you will force him to write a book with a petition... WTF! he sayed he dont want to write a book so a fucking petiton will not change his mind
a pedition would be the disrespectfulles move ever
As a grown man I don’t think I’ve ever cried so hard. My grandfather fought in Vietnam and has refused to tell me stories to this day. Hearing this graphic first hand detail of ww2 makes me bawl like a baby.
You are not alone this video had me in tears the entire time
Tru7hCarnage Because you are one!
My father was in the Navy for 20 years and he "never" talked to us kids about the war. After he passed away 12 years ago my mother told me some things about my father and the effects it had on him for many years after WW2 war was over.
Tom Cook you can insult me all you want, but ill ashed a tear for our vets any day of the week
Doc Holliday thank you so much for your reply, it helps.
I can't believe how lucid and young this guy is in his mid 90s. They don't make 'em like they used to.
I had the same thought - his mind is still sharp!
You assholes. I am destined to die in my 70s because of my genetics. Don't tell me I'm to blame because I didn't choose better parents.
@@Thulesmann And the height of your achievements is to parrot another commenter's stupidity. Moron.
They do
what a fine human, and what a horrible, horrible day he had to go through.I am german, born in 1979. I feel very moved, and very humble, and very grateful. We are so grateful for what these kids did. And it hurts how hard it was on them.
commercials should not interrupt this video, period.
they have to be able to produce videos like this
Question is: do you wanna see videos like this?
@@WornDownSaint It's so very important that we see videos like this!
In the middle of a heart wrenching story about the war...LEtS pLaY rAiD SHadOw leGeNds!!
Hi
Nearly 95 years old. He looks badass for someone at that age. Not only that, he's very articulate. It's actually mind boggling to me.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t use that language.”
Are you kidding me?!? You stormed the beaches of Normandy, sir. You say ANYTHING you want WHENEVER you want.
He should never have had to pay taxes ever again either ...........
I agree...
Ok
Todays kids don't even know who Hitler was let alone what happened in Normandy...history will repeat itself
@@JedemPoKucama bro I’m only 15 I can’t believe what these ppl went through, but the worst part of life is that Ik more ppl will go through this in the future, soldiers, our children, everyone and it’s so heartbreaking
RIP Frank, gone but not forgotten. Thank you for your service sir.
But you did help him Frank. He stopped screaming, calmed down and sqeezed your finger. The prayer...
“We were too young to drink, we were too young to vote...but we weren’t to young to die” a very real but very sad quote
Are you related to Jeff Dunham
Frl
“We where too young to drink, we where too young to vote...but we weren’t too young to die”.
God bless you man.
SABR Striker Why you being a disrespectful POS?
Plagiarism
@@gmg9010 you're a dumbass, you don't understand the concept of plagiarism. He's literally quoting the man, hence the quotation marks.
This man needs to be in a history book. All his words sank so deep I was crying the whole time. God bless him.
This rips my heart apart seeing and hearing this. Everyone should hear and see this.
“Not old enough to drink, not old enough to vote, but we were old enough to die.”
Now I’m crying at work with this man. Damnit 😭
Back to work u pussy
@@derrickhunter9825 i was about to say the same thing 🐧😂
Hello
I’m so appreciative Veterans like this told their story for future generations. Bless him.
Yeah, so great the young Americans learned thast wars are just shit and one should not go and invade nations where one has not business like the nazi’s did………….wait
The strength it takes to recall all of these tragic memories is unreal. We can nearly hold back tears watching this never mind living this… thank you for your service, it’s because of you that we all live today