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Partial Inventory of the John R. Bruning Collection
2000C119
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Title: John R. Bruning collection
Date (inclusive): 1939-2010
Collection Number: 2000C119
Creator:
Bruning, John R., collector
Contributing Institution:
Hoover Institution Archives
Physical Description:
7 manuscript boxes, 37,364 digital files (486 GB)
(2.8 linear feet)
Abstract: Video recordings of interviews of American and Japanese World War II pilots and German World War II submarine commanders;
photocopies of American military aviation reports; photographs, relating to aerial and submarine operations in World War II
and aerial operations in the Korean War; and digital videorecordings and photographs, relating to American military operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Collection is open for research.
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives.
[Identification of item] ([Digital file name if appropriate]), John R. Bruning collection, [Box number if appropropriate],
Hoover Institution Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 2000, followed by an increment of digital files in 2011.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the catalog is larger than the number of boxes
listed in this finding aid.
John Bruning, a military writer and photojournalist, was born in 1968 in Palo Alto, California. He earned a BA in history
from the University of Oregon in 1990. He wrote or collaborated on seventeen books published or pending as of 2011, including
The Devil's Sandbox,
House to House,
How to Break a Terrorist,
Shadow of the Sword,
Crimson Sky, and
Jungle Ace.
Bruning began work on
The Devil's Sandbox, which details the 2003-2005 deployment of the 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, Oregon National Guard to Iraq, in 2005. Six
months after returning home, the battalion was deployed to North Central New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. For
a month, the men conducted patrols and searched for survivors and human remains. Bruning deployed with them as a civilian
embed, living with them on a concrete walkway in front of the music hall at the New Orleans Baptist Seminary.
Upon returning to Oregon and publishing
The Devil's Sandbox, Bruning founded and funded the 973rd Civilians on the Battlefield (973 COB), a nonprofit organization. This group of civilians
serves as the Oregon National Guard's (ONG) opposing force during drill weekends and field exercises. In August 2008, Bruning
spent a month with Alpha Company, 2-162 at Gowen Field, Idaho, during the unit's final field training exercise before their
second Iraq deployment.
In June 2010 Bruning was invited to deploy as an embed to Afghanistan with Bravo Company, 1-168 Aviation, a Boeing CH-47 Chinook
heavy lift unit from Pendleton, Oregon. Another part of the unit belonged to the Washington National Guard at Ft. Lewis. The
two detachments were merged and sent to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shank in the summer of 2010 to conduct operations around
Logar, Wardak, and Gahzni provinces. Bruning joined them at Fort Hood in July 2010 and was with them until their deployment
in early August. On September 5 he joined Bravo 10168 at FOB Shank. The next day he began flying missions with the unit, which
was attached to TF Brawler, 4-3 Aviation, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. Mixed in with 1-168 were men
and women from 5-158 Aviation, "Big Windy," out of Germany. They were at the end of their deployment and Bruning ultimately
left Shank with them in November 2010.
Bruning went to Afghanistan without any affiliation to a news organization, and he was not under contract nor in the employ
of anyone. He intended to spend his time in Afghanistan writing articles about the men and women for their local newspapers.
He wrote seven articles and had five published.
Scope and Content of Collection
Video recordings of interviews of American and Japanese World War II pilots and German World War II submarine commanders,
photocopies of American military aviation reports, and photographs, relating to aerial and submarine operations in World War
II and aerial operations in the Korean War. These materials were collected by Bruning in the course of his work.
Most of the still and moving images of national guard training and deployment in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina (2005),
in Iraq (2004-2005), and in Afghanistan (2010), supplemented by a few items dated as early as 2001, were created by Bruning,
although some photographs were given to him. The Iraq and New Orleans material follows the deployment of the 2nd Battalion,
162nd Infantry, Oregon National Guard. It fought in Baghdad, 2nd Najaf, the Sunni Triangle, and Fallujah from March 2004 to
March 2005. Bruning wrote a book about this deployment,
The Devil's Sandbox. After Hurricane Katrina the battalion was deployed to North Central New Orleans; selected photographs from this period are
available. The Afghanistan images follow the deployment of Bravo Company, 1-168 Aviation, a Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy lift
unit from Pendleton, Oregon. Another part of the unit came from the Washington National Guard at Ft. Lewis. The two detachments
were merged and sent to FOB Shank in the summer of 2010 to conduct operations around Logar, Wardak, and Gahzni provinces.
Bruning's photos follow the unit's deployment in the summer and fall. Additional photographs and videorecordings depict Oregon
National Guard training activities circa 2008.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Afghan War, 2001- .
Iraq War, 2003-2011.
Korean War, 1950-1953--Aerial operations.
Video tapes.
World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations.
World War, 1939-1945--Naval operations--Submarine.