- General Collections
- 1941
- 1942
- Battles of Java Sea and Sunda Strait
- Bataan and Corregidor
- Early Naval Raids
- Doolittle Raid
- Battle of the Coral Sea
- Battle of Midway
- Submarine Combat Patrols
- Battle of the Atlantic
- Solomons Campaign: Guadalcanal
- Operation Torch: Invasion of North Africa
- Building the Infrastructure for War
- Manning the U.S. Navy
- 1943
- Establishment of Numbered Fleets
- The Aleutians Campaign
- Battle of the Atlantic—Continued
- On the Offensive Beyond Guadalcanal
- Sicilian Campaign: Operation Husky
- Tarawa: Breaking into the Gilberts
- Landings at Salerno, Italy: Operation Avalanche
- Naval Air Strikes Against German Shipping: Operation Leader
- 1944
- Operation Shingle: Landing at Anzio, Italy
- Gamble at Los Negros: The Admiralty Islands Campaign
- Evacuation by Submarine: USS Angler in the Philippines
- Securing New Guinea: Operations Reckless and Persecution
- Exercise Tiger: Disaster at Slapton Sands
- Defeating the Sharks: The Capture of U-505
- Pearl Harbor Ablaze Again: The West Loch Disaster
- Operation Overlord: Invasion of Normandy
- Operation Forager: The Battle of Saipan
- The Battle of the Philippine Sea
- Port Chicago Naval Magazine Explosion
- Operation Forager Continued: Landings on Guam and Tinian
- Operation Dragoon: The Invasion of Southern France
- Operation Stalemate II: The Battle of Peleliu
- The Battle of Leyte Gulf
- The Battle off Samar: The Sacrifice of "Taffy 3"
- United States Navy War Instructions, 1944
- The Japanese “Hell Ships” of World War II
- 1945
- Battle of Iwo Jima
- Navy Nurses Behind Enemy Lines in the Philippines
- Operation Plunder: Crossing the Rhine
- Battle of Okinawa
- Okinawa Highlights: 4-11 April 1945
- Battle of Okinawa: Historic Overview & Importance
- Okinawa Highlights: 12–19 April 1945
- Kamikaze Attack on USS Isherwood
- The Destruction of USS Pringle
- The Sinking of USS Little
- The Most Dangerous Place off Okinawa
- A Kamikaze Attack on New Mexico, Fifth Fleet Flag: A Photo Essay
- A Ceremony for the Fallen: Aftermath of a Kamikaze Attack
- Admiral Spruance Recounts Kamikaze Attack on His Flagship, New Mexico (BB-40)
- On the Verge of Breaking Down Completely: Combat Fatigue off Okinawa and the Destruction of USS Longshaw
- Investigating Okinawa: The Story Behind A Kamikaze Pilot’s Scarf
- The Loss of USS Twiggs at Okinawa
- The Most Difficult Antiaircraft Problem Yet Faced By the Fleet
- Victory in Europe (V-E) Day
- Japan's Surrender and Aftermath
- World War II Profiles in Duty
- ENS Allen W. Bain and Minneapolis (CA-36)
- LT Eugene A. Barham and Laffey (DD-459)
- LT Richard H. Best of VB-6
- LCDR Joseph W. Callahan and Ralph Talbot (DD-390)
- LT Albert P. “Scoofer” Coffin of Torpedo Ten
- MAtt1/c Leonard R. Harmon and CDR Mark H. Crouter of San Francisco (CA-38)
- CDR Frank A. Erickson—First Helicoptar SAR
- CDR Ernest E. Evans of Johnston (DD-557)
- S1/c James Fahy on Montpelier (CL-57)
- Float Plane Pilots in the Pacific
- AMM1/c Bruno P. Gaido of VS-6
- CAPT Joy Bright Hancock
- Charles Kleinsmith and Yorktown (CV-5)
- LCDR Edwin T. Layton of PACFLT N2
- LCDR Maxwell F. Leslie of VB-3
- LCDR Eugene E. Lindsey of VT-6
- ENS Donald W. Lynch and Mugford (DD-389)
- Theodore W. Marshall of VP-22
- LCDR Lance E. Massey of VT-3
- LCDR Bernard F. McMahon and Drum (SS-228)
- ARM1/c Oliver Rasmussen
- LTJG Melvin C. Roach, Guadalcanal Fighter Pilot
- CDR Joseph J. Rochefort and "Station Hypo"
- Chief Machinist William A. Smith and Enterprise (CV-6)
- LTJG Steffenhagen and Shōhō
- Submerged Appendectomy
- LCDR John C. Waldron of VT-8
- LCDR William J. “Gus” Widhelm of Scouting Eight
- Image (gif, jpg, tiff)
- NHHC
Aviation Machinist's Mate 1st Class Bruno Gaido
Gaido was an aviation machinist’s mate whose biographical details are difficult to pin down. He achieved fame, however, through his daring feats and ultimate sacrifice in 1942.
Assigned to USS Enterprise (CV-6), he single-handedly shot down a Japanese aircraft, the pilot of which was attempting to crash on Enterprise’s flight deck, on 1 February 1942. For his initiative and bravery, Vice Admiral William F. Halsey promoted Gaido on the spot.
At the Battle of Midway four months later, Gaido, flying as the rear-seat gunner for Enterprise’s Scouting Squadron 6, contributed to the successful attacks on the Japanese carriers Kaga and Akagi. During that action, however, Gaido’s aircraft stayed in the air too long, and fuel was running out. Seeing that the tanks were nearly empty, the pilot, Ensign Frank O’Flaherty, had to ditch the aircraft in the ocean. He and Gaido survived the impact but found themselves taken prisoner by crewmembers of a nearby Japanese destroyer, Makigumo. Once on board, Gaido and O’Flaherty were likely interrogated under torture and then, several days later, thrown overboard. Because Makigumo was subsequently sunk, records on the particulars of Gaido’s ordeal and death do not survive.
Gaido received the Distinguished Flying Cross posthumously. His name is engraved on a monument at the Courts of the Missing, part of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, located in Honolulu, Hawaii.
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