DOVER, De. -- 80 years ago today, 73,000 brave Americans stormed the beaches of Normandy. While there aren't many D-Day survivors left, there is one in Dover, and on Thursday he was willing to share his story with us.
From Omaha Beach to Dover, Alexander Deusa has lived quite the life.
2,501 Americans were killed on D-Day, more than 5,000 were injured. Mr. Deusa was lucky enough to walk away. But he told us on Thursday, every day during the war, not just D-Day, made him think tomorrow would never come, let alone living to almost 99 years old.
When Deusa was 18 years old Uncle Sam came calling. Then, on June 6th, 1944, Deusa found himself inside a boat approaching Omaha Beach.
"Bullets are flying, artillery, oh yeah you would wake up if you were sleeping I guarantee you that," said Deusa.
Deusa remembers the gate of his boat opening, he remembers wading through the water, and he remembers the chaos that ensued after he made it to shore.
"You never, never saw somebody get killed before and now people are falling dead all around you, or wounded," said Deusa.
If it wasn't for a few fellow soldiers, Deusa said there's a strong possibility he would have never made it home.
"There was a big ditch, like and I was down in there and artillery was coming and I had dug under and a big shell landed on top and buried me," said Deusa. "Two guys grabbed me by the feet and pulled me out and that's the day that I was in rough shape."
In the battle following D-Day, more than 70,000 allied soldiers were killed. Among them was Deusa's best friend.
"That uh, that was rough," said Deusa.
And Deusa said he will never forget the sinking feeling that tomorrow would never come.
"We figure well this will be my day I got to go, I mean everybody all these other people are getting killed or wounded so it's got to be my day, but it never came," said Deusa.
Deusa was awarded five medals for the bravery he showed, including the Purple Heart. He said it was an honor to be a part of the 2nd infantry division all those years ago.
