Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-15
SMILES ON AFTER
MANY OPERATIONS
Vita Bruno Still Cheerful, Al
though Under Knife
81 Times.
Hi. there. Brunei" "Hov's the sick

Hi, there, Brunei" "Hows the sicl
boy?"
his sleeves across his eyes. Hot liks
hell Sweat ALA tina time. No can sleep
no can stay awake. But whatSa the USE
of kickin'. 1t no changa things"
Right you are, Bruno. But dom
you find 1t hard keeping cheerful anc
| navigating around in that wheel chair
with that leg in plaster up to your hip
and you just getting up from another
peration?"
Bruno grinned and hitched his chail
toward his buddy across the hospita
corridor at Walter Reed
mo Stree" he announced fatty, 81
no linda it hard to be cheerful be-
cause I no hafta try. I just am. ]
learna my lesson .. just keep push
along and smile"
And Bruno, as the other knew, does
keep pushing along and smiling. He
was wounded. grievously so, while a
member of the 37th Ohio Division In
action on the Champagne front.
Bruno was left for dead on the bat
tlefield. where he lay in mortal pain for
three days-three maddening days o1
delerium and torment-before a pass
ing stretcfer bearer recognized in him
a bit of life amid the wreckage the
guns had wrought. Then he was rushed
to the hospital for the first Of "a
operations.
Since, Army surgeons have operated
ing the wasted bones of his. right leg.
But Bruno will never walk on his two
legs again. His clutches or a cane will
be his best friends through life.
Last week at Walter Reed Hospital
the latest ma jor operation was performed
on his leg. Everything that Uncle Sam
can do is being done at this famous
institution to give the game veteran a
fighting chance.
Bruno was born In Italy on August
26, 1898, at Taranta, a big seaport
across from Naples. He came to Amer
lea in 1918, and adopted Scranton, Pa,
as his home town. He worked in the
coal mines there, strong, capable and
willing chap, well liked by every one.
His optimism and. good fellowship made
friends for him easily. Then came the
World War, and on April 20. 1928,
Bruno enlisted. He was assigned to the
37th Division After short periods Of
training at Camps Lee and Dix he was
sent overseas, arriving there July G,
1918. His division was rushed to the
front, and Bruno saw plenty Of action
right from the start. Like the others, he
world of bursting guns and gas and
shining bayonetS. Side by side with his
American born buddies he fought and
did his bit. None fought harder, none
was prouder of his cause and colors
than Bruno, the foreign born. Then,
one day he got his.
AT $50 am. on September 26, 1918,
his division got it's orders to attack.
The objective was a particularly i'm
pregnible position held by the Germans.
The fighting was desperate and bloody.
At o'clock, Bruno while in the thick
of the fight felt terrific pain in his
right leg and went down. An enemy
machine gun had broken the bone be-
low the knee and the bones jutted gro
tesquely. There was no help in sight.
All around him men were too busy Kill-
ing and manning each other to care for
the wounded and dying. Dazed by the
pain and loss of blood, nauseated and
sick at heart at the sight of the project
ing bones. Bruno gamely unwrapped his
logging and barred the wound. Then
tearing his shirt into strips he BAN
daged his leg tightly to stop the flow of
blood. All through that agoniZing night
he lay there and through the next day
and night and the next. For 70 hours,
without food or water. unable to move
or cry out, dazed and weak. and de-
lirious with pain. he fought his own pri-
vate battle for his life. And he won.
On the fourth day he was picked UP
and sent to the nearest operating hut
But the battle for Bruno had just be-