Thursday, April 29, 2021
I am very saddened by the passing of a great friend and storyteller. Rich and I spent hundreds of hours standing watch together in the pilot house of the USS Vreeland (DE-1068). We became very close and I was honored to escort Cheryl at their wedding in Athens, Greece. Rich Bruno had a huge heart and he could extract a laugh from me in the best of times and in the grimmest of times. He was a brilliant guy who loved politics, but cooking was in his blood from the beginning and he made a good, long career in it. In our conversations after our Navy days, he was so very thrilled being a father and grandfather; I feel I know his entire family from those conversations and from the wonderful stories he told me in those hours at sea. My heart and prayers go out to you all.
Chuck Wise, QMC, USNR (ret.)
Perry Hall, Maryland
