Chronicles of Douglas County, Colorado by Castle Rock Writers

Author:Castle Rock Writers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2014-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Sergeant Bill Brunger, pictured in his U.S. Army uniform from World War II, received the French Legion of Honor Award in 2013 in Denver. Adam Williams Photography.

“Being scared and being afraid are different to me. Everybody’s scared in combat when bullets are coming at you and artillery is firing. But I was not afraid. I knew from my belief in God that what was going to happen was going to happen. I could be a better soldier because of my belief,” said Brunger.

Brunger fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. He then served in the American Seventh Army under the French First Army at Alsace-Lorraine. His outfit later relieved the British Second Army in Holland. Next, his unit was assigned to the American Ninth Army on the other side of the Maas River. His unit crossed the Rhine River into Germany to fight until the war’s end.

After World War II, Brunger and his father started Arapahoe Plumbing and Heating, serving businesses and families. In retirement, he and his wife, Janet Brunger, have traveled to many of the places where he fought in Europe. The couple has also worked with the Greatest Generation Foundation in Denver, which sends veterans on three-day trips to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. These trips allow World War II vets to bond with one another and heal emotionally from the traumas suffered during the war. Mr. Brunger also started speaking in schools about his war experiences three years ago.

The United States awarded Brunger with five Bronze Stars and one Valor Award. The fifth Bronze Star, awarded in 2013, was for action that occurred seven days into combat. This seventy-year delay occurred because of a fire at the St. Louis Records Center that destroyed many records. The French recognized him for service in the Colmar Pocket and, in 2012, bestowed on him the French Legion of Honor, the highest honor the French can give to a citizen of another country.263

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