Edward Alan BrudnoCaptain68TH TAC FTR SQDN, 6234TH TFW, 13TH AF United States Air Force 04 June 1940 - 03 June 1973 Quincy, Massachusetts Panel 05E Line 002 |
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The database page for Edward Alan Brudno
REMEMBEREDby his family, friends, and comrades-in-arms.
Shortly after returning home, Captain Brudno was overwhelmed by severe depression. He needed the very best help this country could provide, but none was available. There were stigmas attached to such problems then. He had used up all that he had with which to survive and ended his life to relieve the pain that he could not escape. His death was a wake up call that got the armed services to look for psychological problems, not wait for the POWs to ask for help. Perhaps the most important lesson is that POWs cannot be just released to their families. A lifeline must be maintained with those who kept them alive during those years in captivity - fellow POWs. Perhaps his cellmates could have kept Captain Brudno's head above water until help arrived. That lesson has been learned, but it was too late for him.
22 Mar 2006 From "Beau Geste"
"The love of a man for a woman waxes and wanes like the moon... A memorial initiated by his brother, Robert J. Brudno |
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A Note from The Virtual WallOn 27 August 1965 the 68th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, departed George Air Force Base in California for a four month deployment in Southeast Asia, assigned to the 6234th Tactical Fighter Wing at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base. The 68th TFS lost one F-4C with two crewmen aboard during its deployment.On 18 Oct 1965, one of the 68th TFS' missions was tasked against a bridge near Ha Tinh, abouth 35 miles south of Vinh. Captain Thomas E. Collins, pilot, and 1stLt Edward A. Brudno, copilot, were flying F-4C tail number 64-0730. As Collins rolled in for weapons delivery, his aircraft was hit by antiaircraft fire and became uncontrollable. Collins and Brudno ejected successfully, were immediately captured, and spent the next 88 months in various North Vietnamese prisons. Both men were released with the first group of returning POWs on 12 Feb 1973. What happened afterwards is adequately described in the two articles above. A decade after Al Brudno's suicide public donations funded construction of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington. Because Captain Brudno did not die during his 7-1/2 years of captivity his name was not engraved on the memorial. On 02 April 2004 a Department of Defense press release announced that the Air Force had recommended, and the Secretary of Defense approved, the addition of Captain Edward Alan Brudno's name to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. That will happen during the 2004 Memorial Day services at the Wall. The DoD press release attributes Captain Brudno's death to the fact that "Brudno endured long-term, severe physical and psychological abuse and torture-related wounds inflicted by the enemy in the defined combat zone - and from the devastating effects of these wounds he succumbed within a short time after his release from captivity." On 01 June 2005, Captain Brudno was reburied with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery, just as he asked for in his Will. The Virtual Wall can do no better than to echo journalist Joe Galloway:
"Welcome home, good and faithful soldier. |
The point-of-contact for this memorial is his brother, Robert J. Brudno E-Mail address not available |
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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 22 Apr 2004
Last updated 03/12/2007