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Contact Info
Home Town Bellville, AR
Last Address Chevy Chase, Maryland
Date of Passing Aug 15, 1992
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates 60 1937
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
After retiring from active duty, Henry Bruton worked for Collins Radio Co. here, then served from 1964 to 1966 as secretary-treasurer of the Armed Forces Relief and Benefit Association. Since 1966, he had been a consultant to the Military Benefit Association.
He was a member of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, the Veteran Wireless Operators Association, the Submarine Veterans of World War II and the U.S. Naval Institute.
Survivors include his wife, the former Lucy Frances Osborne, who moved from Alexandria to Silver Spring several days ago; a son, Robert H., of Washington; a daughter, Sally Harris of Silver Spring; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Other Comments:
NAVY CROSS
Awarded for actions during the World War II
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander Henry Chester Bruton (NSN: 0-60171), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. GREENLING (SS-213), in the successful conduct of an offensive war patrol during the SECOND War Patrol of that vessel from 10 July 1942 until 1 September 1942. In spite of strong enemy counter measures, he coolly and courageously pressed home every favorable attack opportunity and succeeded in sinking a total of 23,950 tons of enemy merchant shipping. During one depth charge attack, depth charges were dropping sufficiently close to jar personnel from their feet and to cause minor damage throughout the ship, but he brought his ship through and his crew home without loss and in splendid offensive spirits. His courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
General Orders: Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet: Serial 24
Action Date: July 10 - September 1, 1942
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Company: Commanding Officer
Division: U.S.S. Greenling (SS-213)
NAVY CROSS
Awarded for actions during the World War II
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander Henry Chester Bruton (NSN: 0-60171), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. GREENLING (SS-213). Lieutenant Commander Bruton conducted an aggressive and successful war patrol in enemy controlled waters, during the THIRD War Patrol of that vessel, from 23 September 1942 to 1 November 1942. Undeterred by numerous anti-submarine patrol craft and the severe enemy counter-offensive, Commander Bruton conducted a consistently successful and aggressive War Patrol against a determined and relentless foe. His superb seamanship, skill and inspiring leadership enabled the GREENLING to sink a total of 32,050 tons of enemy shipping and to damage severely one converted aircraft carrier of 22,000 tons. Commander Bruton brought his ship through unscathed and his crew home without loss or injury and with fighting spirit undiminished. His courage and skill were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Naval Service.
General Orders: Commander In Chief Pacific Fleet: Serial 03549 (December 10, 1942)
Action Date: September 23 - November 1, 1942
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Company: Commanding Officer
Division: U.S.S. Greenling (SS-213)
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Battle of Midway
From Month/Year
June / 1942
To Month/Year
June / 1942
Description The Battle of Midway in the Pacific Theater of Operations was one of the most important naval battles of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States Navy (USN), under Admirals Chester W. Nimitz, Frank Jack Fletcher, and Raymond A. Spruance decisively defeated an attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), under Admirals Isoroku Yamamoto, Chuichi Nagumo, and Nobutake Kondo on Midway Atoll, inflicting irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet. Military historian John Keegan called it "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare." It was Japan's first naval defeat since the Battle of Shimonoseki Straits in 1863.
The Japanese operation, like the earlier attack on Pearl Harbor, sought to eliminate the United States as a strategic power in the Pacific, thereby giving Japan a free hand in establishing its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Japanese hoped that another demoralizing defeat would force the U.S. to capitulate in the Pacific War and thus ensure Japanese dominance in the Pacific.
The Japanese plan was to lure the United States' aircraft carriers into a trap. The Japanese also intended to occupy Midway as part of an overall plan to extend their defensive perimeter in response to the Doolittle air raid on Tokyo. This operation was also considered preparatory for further attacks against Fiji, Samoa, and Hawaii itself.
The plan was handicapped by faulty Japanese assumptions of the American reaction and poor initial dispositions.Most significantly, American codebreakers were able to determine the date and location of the attack, enabling the forewarned U.S. Navy to set up an ambush of its own. Four Japanese aircraft carriers—Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, all part of the six-carrier force that had attacked Pearl Harbor six months earlier—and a heavy cruiser were sunk at a cost of one American aircraft carrier and a destroyer. After Midway and the exhausting attrition of the Solomon Islands campaign, Japan's shipbuilding and pilot training programs were unable to keep pace in replacing their losses, while the U.S. steadily increased its output in both areas.
NAVY CROSS