Bruno Gaido

Bruno Gaido was born in 1916, the son of Italian immigrants, in Staunton, Illinois. [1]

Gaido enlisted in the Navy on October 11, 1940, as an apprentice seaman. He joined air squadron VS-6, which flew SBD Dauntless dive bombers. After what was originally supposed to be a temporary assignment, he joined VS-6 permanently as an aviation machinist. VS-6 was attached to the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.

On 1 February 1942, following a bombing raid on the Marshall Islands, the Enterprise came under attack by five twin-engine Japanese bombers. The lead aircraft, badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire, turned back towards the Enterprise, attempting to ram it. Seeing this, Gaido abandoned his watch post and jumped in a nearby Dauntless parked on the flight deck, and returned fire using the rear-facing 30 caliber machine gun. His fire disabled the aircraft, causing it to narrowly miss the Enterprise, only hitting parked aircraft (including the one Gaido was in) before spiraling into the sea. Upon seeing this act, Vice Admiral William Halsey spot-promoted him to aviation machinist mate first class.[2]

Gaido was a SBD Dauntless gunner in the Battle of Midway. During the battle, he was captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy after his plane was shot down. The Japanese claimed that, under torture, he revealed details about Midway Island's defenses; however, as a carrier machinist he would have had no knowledge of details about the island.

On 15 June 1942, Gaido and his pilot Frank O'Flaherty were weighted and thrown overboard by the Japanese to drown.[2]

Gaido was portrayed by Nick Jonas in the 2019 film Midway.