Bruno Gaido | |
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| Birth name | Bruno Peter Gaido |
| Born | (1916-03-21)March 21, 1916 Staunton, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | June 15, 1942(1942-06-15) (aged 26) Pacific Ocean nearMidway |
| Place of burial (Marker Only) | Courts of the Missing,National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1940–1942 |
| Rank | Aviation Machinist's Mate first class |
| Unit | VS-6 |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | |
Bruno Peter Gaido (March 21, 1916 – June 15, 1942) was an Americansailor who served in theUnited States Navy as anAviation Machinist's Mate duringWorld War II. While flying as a gunner for pilot Frank O'Flaherty in aDouglas SBD Dauntless during theBattle of Midway, he was shot down and captured by theJapanese while waiting for rescue fromAmerican forces. Gaido, along with O’Flaherty were takenP.O.W. and subsequentlytortured,interrogated and executed by beingthrown overboard.
Gaido was born March 21, 1916, inStaunton, Illinois, the fourth of seven children to Clementina Gaido, a stay at home mother, and John Gaido, a laborer and later the owner of a pub.[1] In the 1920s, the family moved from Staunton toMilwaukee, Wisconsin,[2] where Gaido attendedLincoln High School, graduating in 1934. He then sought to enlist in the Navy, but his father considered him too young, so Gaido found work on aMilwaukee County-run farm.[1] In 1940, he joined the Navy with his father's blessing.[3][1]
Gaido enlisted in the Navy on October 11, 1940, as an apprentice seaman. After completing his basic training at theNaval Training Center in Great Lakes, he was assigned toNaval Station Pearl Harbor.[3] On July 15, 1941, Gaido joined air squadron VS-6, which flewDouglas SBD Dauntlessdive bombers. After what was originally supposed to be a temporary training assignment, he joined VS-6 permanently as anAviation Machinist. VS-6 was attached to theaircraft carrierUSSEnterprise.
Gaido quickly gained a reputation among the crew of the Enterprise for mental and physical fortitude. In June 1941, Lieutenant Junior GradeNorman Jack "Dusty" Kleiss got into hisSBD Dauntless to attempt his first ever takeoff and landing from a carrier, an exercise with high risk to those in the plane. Despite expecting to fly solo, Kleiss found Gaido in the gunner's seat. Kleiss attempted to convince Gaido to leave the aircraft for his safety, but Gaido refused, stating, "You got wings, don't you?" Kleiss would later credit Gaido's confidence with helping him complete several perfect takeoffs and landings from the carrier.[4]
After theattack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and American entry into theSecond World War, Enterprise was tasked with harassing and disrupting the Japanese offensive throughout thePacific Theatre as part of theAmerican carrier raids of 1942. On February 1, 1942, following a bombing raid on theMarshall Islands, theEnterprise came under attack by five JapaneseMitsubishi G3M bombers.[4] The lead aircraft, led by Lieutenant Kazuo Nakai, was badly damaged by a defendingF4F Wildcat fighter and turned back towards theEnterprise, attempting to ram it.[4] Seeing this, Gaido abandoned his watch post and jumped into a nearby Dauntless parked on the flight deck, and returned fire using the rear-facing.30 caliber machine guns. His fire disabled the aircraft, causing it to narrowly miss theEnterprise, only hitting parked aircraft—including the one Gaido was in—before spiraling into the sea.[5] Afterwards, Gaido was said to have calmly grabbed the SBD'sfire extinguisher and used it to extinguish the burning pool of fuel left by the Japanese plane before disappearing into the ship, as he believed he would be in trouble for abandoning his battle station.[4] However, upon seeing Gaido's heroics, Vice AdmiralWilliam Halsey Jr. demanded Gaido be brought to him. A search party found Gaido and brought him to the bridge, where Halsey spot-promoted him from Aviation Machinist's Mate Third Class to Aviation Machinist's Mate First Class.[6][7] For his actions, he also received a commendation fromSecretary of the NavyFrank Knox.[5] He further served with distinction in thecarrier raids of Marcus and Wake island in February and March of 1942.[5]
Gaido was an SBD Dauntless gunner in theBattle of Midway with pilot Frank O'Flaherty. On June 4, 1942, O'Flaherty and Gaido attacked theJapanese aircraft carrier Kaga alongside the rest of VS-6 and scored a near miss.[4] O'Flaherty and Gaido joined with five other SBDs on the flight back to the Enterprise. On the return journey, six JapaneseMitsubishi A6M Zero fighters from theJapanese aircraft carrier Hiryū's air group, en route as escorts forAichi D3A dive bombers attacking theU.S.S. Yorktown, broke off to engage the SBDs.[8] In the subsequent dogfight, two Zeros were badly damaged, and no SBDs were shot down. However, O'Flaherty and Gaido's plane developed a fuel leak, due to damage from either a Zero or anti-aircraft fire during their bombing run.[4] Their Dauntless ran out of fuel and they were forced toditch. The airmen were picked up by the Japanese destroyer Makigumo, who took them as prisoners of war. The Japanese claimed that Gaido revealed details about Midway Island's defenses; however, he had never been to Midway Island and it is unlikely he would have had any knowledge outside of what was known to the general public.Rear Admiral Samuel J. Cox, the director of theNaval History and Heritage Command, has stated his belief that Gaido gave the Japanese plausible-sounding but fabricated information under torture.[4]
On June 15, 1942, theMakigumo received orders to execute Gaido and O'Flaherty. According to Japanese accounts, whenMakigumo's officer in charge, Isamu Fujita, asked for volunteers to execute the prisoners, the crew initially refused. However, that night the American airmen wereweighted and thrown overboard from theMakigumo to drown.[4] The U.S. would not know of the airmen's fate until after the war, and Gaido was listed asmissing in action from the Battle of Midway until Japanese records concerning O'Flaherty and Gaido's execution were uncovered after the war. After Gaido was reported missing, his mother Clementina was said to be inconsolable, and her death less than two months later was attributed by some in the family to the stress she experienced from Bruno's presumed death.[1]
In April 1943, Gaido was posthumously awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross for his actions aboard theEnterprise.[9] In 1996, Gaido was the first inductee into the Enlisted Combat Aircrew Roll of Honor.[citation needed] Gaido is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at theNational Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.[10]
Gaido was portrayed byNick Jonas in the 2019 filmMidway. Jonas portrayed Gaido with a mustache and aNew York accent, under the mistaken impression that Gaido was fromLong Island.[11][1] Despite this, Gaido's surviving family were reportedly happy with Jonas' portrayal.[1] Gaido's actions during the Marshall Islands raid and Midway were also featured prominently in the first two episodes ofBattle 360.
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| Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumous) | Purple Heart (Posthumous) | ||||||||||
| Navy Presidential Unit Citation (Posthumous) | Prisoner of War Medal (Posthumous) | American Defense Service Medal (Posthumous) | |||||||||
| American Campaign Medal (Posthumous) | Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronzecampaign stars (Posthumous) | World War II Victory Medal (Posthumous) | |||||||||