Local World War II Veteran Reminisces On D-Day

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Seventy-two-years-ago, Army Staff Sergeant Al Deusa and his 2nd Infantry Division were preparing to storm Normandy Beach.

"General Patton gave us a little pep talk," Deusa said.

"He says, you SOB's are here to fill dead men's shoes. If you die, don't worry about it. We have plenty of people to fill your shoes. That was his pep talk."

Now 91, Staff Sergeant Deusa vividly remembers the moment his foot his the sand.

"You have all these bodies floating and you're pushing the bodies out of the way," he recalled. "It kind of puts your thought in the mind of hey, this is serious. This is tough stuff."

When asked how he survived...

"Well, I don't know. Everyday, when you push off, you're in an open field. You hear the artillery. You hit the ground and there are shells bursting all around you. You hear guys cussing and screaming and praying and anytime a shell could be close enough to get you. I always credit the good lord," he said.

In Brest, France, the fighting was fierce and before the United States liberated the city, Deusa's division lost thousands in the bloodshed, including a close friend and fellow machine gun operator.

"We were going across the field, machine gun opens up. You hit the ground. I crawl up to George and he's shot up real bad. I open his pack. A picture of his mom and I put it on his chest and when I walked away from George, he was holding, crying a picture of his mom," Deusa said.

It's memories like that which Deusa says still keep him up at night. "I've been awake since 2:30 this morning because the video is running and I'm trying to shut it down. I'm trying to lock it back. I've got a closet in my brain so to speak and it's where I put this stuff."

Deusa is well aware of how important those firsthand memories are and how increasingly rare they are.

"Most of the 2nd World War people are already gone. Just remember, it was thousands of us. It wasn't just me."