PVT Ernest F. Bruno Jr.
Today we honor and remember PVT Ernest F. Bruno Jr. of the 101st Airborne Division.
Private (PVT) Ernest Felix Bruno Jr. of Item Company, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 101st Airborne Division, was born in Price, Carbon County, Utah, to Ernest Felix and Carmela (Pagano) Bruno on March 25, 1925.
His father was a sheep rancher who was born in Decollatura, Italy, in 1896. He came to the United States in 1914 and died of pneumonia in 1942. His mother remarried a man named John Falsone and moved to Biggs, California, in 1947. Ernest Bruno had four brothers, Michael, Leonard, Jesse, and Felix, and two sisters, Betty and Beverly. Two other children, twin girls, were stillborn in 1930.
During WWII, his brother Leonard served as a private in Italy, and both Jesse and Felix served as privates with the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific. All three returned home after the war.
Ernest graduated from Carbon County High School. At the time of his draft registration in March 1943, he worked on a sheep ranch and was later employed by Allen-Garcia Construction Company. He enlisted for the U.S. Army at Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City, on October 8, 1943. He received his basic training at Camp White, California, and his paratrooper training at Fort Benning, Georgia. These preparations took Ernest about six months after which he traveled overseas.Â
Private Bruno was assigned to Item Company on July 22, 1944. He made his first combat jump with the start of Operation Market Garden on September 17, 1944, and remained unscathed throughout the combat period in the Netherlands. He was hospitalized with a non-battle illness on November 29, but returned to duty on December 12.
During a patrol on December 29, 1944, PVT Ernest Bruno was killed in action.
When his buddy in Item Company, machine-gunner PFC Jose Casares, heard of his death by some new privates who had gone out on that patrol with PVT Bruno but had left him behind, Casares forced these men to go out with him and retrieve the body of his friend.
Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅
After his initial burial overseas, PVT Ernest Bruno returned home in 1949. He was reburied at the Price City Cemetery, Carbon County, Utah, on June 7, 1949, where he rests eternally. Private Ernest Bruno died at the age of 19.
Happy Birthday in Heaven, Bruno. May you rest in peace.
Lest we forget! 🇺🇸
Resources
The Sun Advocate, Thursday, January 18, 1945
The Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, January 21, 1945
The Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, June 5, 1949
Friends of Company I 502 – WWII (post of Vincent Mares, Dec 28, 2015)