Oakland had great weather on Sunday for the Annual Memorial Day Parade. This years Grand Marshall Jack Bruni is the father of past Oakland Firefighter Larry Bruni.

Jack Bruni, Oakland's Memorial Day parade grand marshal, was born in New York City and raised in Astoria, Queens. He attended city schools and graduated in 1942 from the Manhattan High School of Aviation.

Bruni was drafted into the US Army in 1942 and sent to Florida for basic training followed by an assignment to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland to attend machinist school. Upon leaving Aberdeen, Bruni was sent to the overseas replacement depot in Augusta, Ga., and assigned to the US Army Air Corps in Tallahassee, Fla., eventually ending up with the 400th Bomb Group in Charleston, S.C. When the 400th was relocated to England, Bruni was reassigned to the Charleston Army Air Base to work on B-24's becoming a flight engineer.

As the war in Europe ended in May 1945, preparations were being made for the invasion of Japan. Bruni's B-24 squadron found its aircraft replaced with C-54 transport planes and all personnel were now assigned to the Air Transport Command in anticipation of the move to the Pacific.

The assignment never came to pass. When the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, the war ended.

At the end of the war, Bruni elected to stay in the service by joining the reserves. His stint in the new US Air Force lasted three years. He was a sergeant at the end of the war and remained so after his time in the reserves.

Upon returning home to Astoria, Bruni reconnected with his long-time love, Angela Figuni, whom he had known from grade school. They were married and had four children, two boys and two girls. The couple settled down in Astoria where Bruni went to work for Con Edison for the next ten years.

Bruni was subsequently hired at Lummus Engineering in Newark, and relocated to Oakland, buying a house there in 1973. Two of the Bruni children, Barbara and David, attended Oakland schools, while Larry and Cathy attended and graduated from New York City schools.

Bruni retired in 1986. His wife, Angela, passed away in 1993 and his daughter, Barbara, passed away in 2003.

Bruni has been a longtime member of the American Legion and an active participant in our many functions.