NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV (FOX5) -
In June 1944, 87-year-old Gaetano Benza was one of the thousands of Allied troops who took part in Operation Overlord.
"(I was) 19 years old and scared to death," Benza told FOX5.
Serving with the 505th Port Battalion, Benza arrived at Omaha Beach on D-Day plus three, and immediately started helping to get equipment and tanks on shore.
Although he wasn't part of the first wave, he saw his share of action.
At the time, German forces were still attacking the beaches with artillery.
Once, while unloading ammunition offshore, a German fighter plane attacked the ship Benza was on.
"He started to drop bombs all around us. Fortunately we never got hit… I'm not ashamed to say myself and many others, we dropped down on our knees and we started to say goodbye to mamma and papa," Benza said.
Benza also had an up-close encounter with the enemy.
While offering gum to a captured solider of the SS, the German spit in his face.
"I took my carbine and I put it right between his eyes and said, ‘I'll kill you!'" Benza recalled.
But just then, Benza said an American guard stepped in.
"He says, 'Solider, if you shoot him, we have to shoot you. Put it down!' And I put it down, walked away and I wiped my face, but I'll never forget that," Benza said.
In 2009, Benza returned to Normandy, taking part in a veterans ceremony with President Barack Obama.
He was sure to take part of the beach with him, collecting sand in a bag.
"How many G.I.s died, died on this sand?" Benza asked.
Out of all the Hollywood films made about D-Day, Benza says just one got it right.
"Nobody has done what Saving Private Ryan did… just looking at that picture, I can picture myself on that beach again," Benza told FOX5.
Copyright 2012 KVVU (KVVU Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WSFA, a Raycom Media Station.
