Photo By Lance Cpl. Drake Nickels | U.S. Marine Cpl. Giovanni Brunacini, a rifleman with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th...... read more read more
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The aphorism that service members march “to the sound of the guns” stretches as far back as the Napoleonic Wars. In the 200 years since then, men and women in the military have run toward danger as others run away.
That is exactly what U.S. Marine Cpl. Giovanni Brunacini, a rifleman with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, did when he ran toward the sound of gunfire and ended up saving a life Nov. 17.
Brunacini, who is currently serving as a block noncommissioned officer for the rifle range was visiting a friend in Lemon Grove, California, close to where he grew up, when suddenly he heard a loud popping noise followed by tires screeching. Brunacini had a decision to make: run to safety or do what Marines in the past have historically done, run toward the danger.
“I went to meet my friend at Starbucks and when I went to leave that's when I heard gunshots, which sounded like it was 200 meters away,” said Brunacini. “We both ducked down. He told people to go inside and I went to my truck to grab my med bag. I started running through the cars trying to get as much cover as I could.”
Brunacini was in the middle of an apparent drive-by shooting. His primary concern was if anyone had been injured.
“I ran up there and saw there was a man on the floor,” said Brunacini. “I got down and saw he was in a pool of blood that was forming on his left side. So I got to work.”
Brunacini then realized the man, Robert Mansi, had multiple gunshot wounds, the most serious located in his abdomen.
“I opened up my med bag and saw I needed my gauze and a (structural aluminum malleable) splint for his arm,” added Brunacini. “I went to work to stop the bleeding as best as I could. I applied pressure as hard as I could to his abdomen. As I was doing that, I rolled him on his back to check for exit wounds. I kept holding pressure until the bleeding stopped.”
When the police and fire department arrived, Brunacini worked with the paramedics to keep Mansi alive.
“I told the police to hold pressure on his abdomen so I can work on his arm,” added Brunacini. “Firefighters and EMTs arrived and basically did what I had been doing. We loaded him up on the gurney they hauled him away.”
Brunacini recalled the events and said that he was just doing what his corpsmen had taught him.
“I was combat lifesaver-certified when I first got to the fleet, and I fell in love with medical treatment,” explained Brunacini. “Being in the infantry, you're exposed to a lot of gunfire and are taught to run towards it. That's exactly what I did. When I got there, I had my medical bag and knew exactly what to do, because that’s what the corpsmen taught me.”
Brunacini was recognized by the city of Lemon Grove and first responders for his courageous actions, and even met with the family of the wounded man.
“You saved my son's life,'' said Alicia Mansi, Robert Mansi’s mother, during an interview with ABC News 10. “So glad you were there.”
| Date Taken: | 12.15.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.23.2021 13:33 |
| Story ID: | 411233 |
| Location: | CAMP PENDLETON, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 240 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Pendleton Marine springs to action, saves life, by LCpl Drake Nickels, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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