[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 111 (Thursday, July 16, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING LIEUTENANT COLONEL LEO BRUNING ON HIS 100TH BIRTHDAY

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                           HON. ERIC SWALWELL

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 16, 2015

  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize 
Lieutenant Colonel Leo Bruning on the occasion of his 100th birthday, 
which will be celebrated on August 15, 2015.
  After graduating from San Jose State in 1937 and working as a teacher 
and coach at Hayward High School until 1940, Lieutenant Colonel Bruning 
began his military service by joining the Army with the 7th 
Quartermaster Battalion stationed at Ford Ord in Monterey, California. 
After the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, he immediately took 
up training to become a pilot and served in that capacity on the 
homefront throughout World War II.
  Once the need for Army pilots subsided and Lieutenant Colonel Bruning 
was discharged, he wanted to continue his military service to his 
country so he joined the Air Force. He was stationed in Vienna, Austria 
to provide support to U.S. embassies in Budapest and Bucharest in the 
years immediately after World War II, working under constant tension as 
his airbase was inside of the Soviet sector of the city.
  In 1952 Lieutenant Colonel Bruning returned home and left active 
duty, but he enlisted in an Air Force Reserve program for troop 
transport. During the next five years Lieutenant Colonel Bruning led 
his squadron in compiling a total of 2,600 hours of flying on 23 
different types of military aircraft. He remained in the Reserves until 
his 60th birthday with 35 years of military service.
  In addition to his military service, Lieutenant Colonel Bruning has 
been an active member of the Dublin community for 52 years and was a 
successful business executive for a local ladder company.
  I want to acknowledge Lieutenant Colonel Bruning and extend my 
sincere appreciation for his stellar career of service to our nation 
and wish him well as he celebrates this significant milestone of 
reaching his 100th birthday.

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