This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Bruns, Walter Allen, Jr., CRM.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Saint Paul, MN
Last Address 4690 51st St San Diego, CA (Parents: Walter A Bruns Sr & wife Helen)
Casualty Date Mar 05, 1943
Cause MIA-Finding of Death
Reason Lost At Sea-Unrecovered
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Northern Solomon Islands Campaign (1943-44)/Sinking of the USS Grampus (SS-207)
Location of Interment Manila American Cemetery - Taguig City, Philippines
Wall/Plot Coordinates Tablets of the Missing (Cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
In company with Grayback, Grampus departed Brisbane on 11 February 1943, for her sixth war patrol from which she failed to return; the manner of her loss still remains a mystery. Japanese seaplanes reported sinking a submarine on 18 February in Grampus's patrol area, but Grayback reported seeing Grampus in that same area 4 March. On 5 March 1943, the Japanese destroyers Minegumo and Murasame conducted an attack preceding the Battle of Blackett Strait, near Kolombangara island. A heavy oil slick was sighted there the following day, indicating that Grampus may have been lost there in a night attack or gun battle against the destroyers. The Japanese destroyers had by then already been sunk in a night action with U.S. cruisers and destroyers.
When repeated attempts failed to contact Grampus, the submarine was declared missing and presumed lost with all hands. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 21 June 1943.
