When I first started researching Brigido, the first thing that I found was his enlistment record. This was an excellent place to start, since it provided information about where he was from and some general background facts. From this record I learned that Brigido has listed that he attended 4 years of high school and that he was from Elko County. A quick google search displayed all the high schools in that area, I then narrowed it down to Carlin High School because that was the only high school in the area at the time.
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Brigido attended Carlin High school for four years, and graduated in 1935. Brigido was the Valedictorian of his class, a intelligent young man with a bright future.
Joining the ArmyBrigido joined enlisted in the army on January 16th, 1942 when he was only 24 years old. He was unmarried and still in the youthful stage of his life, unfortunately he would never get the chance to start his own family. Since he was from Nevada, he had to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah in order to register. Brigido's rank when he joined the military was the lowest, a private, but he quickly rose through the ranks and became a 1st Lieutenant in under two years.
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Brig's basic training took place in Fort Knox, Kentucky. It was there that his high scores on the Army's IQ test placed him at the top of his class. As a result of these scores, Brig was admitted to the Officers Candidate School, otherwise called the OCS. He attended OCS from May 1942 until August 1942. He received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Lt. Gonzalez was then given further training and was subsequently assigned to an Armored unit in North Africa on June of 1943. In November of 1943, Brigido was transferred to the 67th Armored Regiment in England where he was involved in the preparations for the invasion of France, “Operation Overlord”.
Brigido's Last Journey...
Brigido was on board LST 496 on June 11th, 1944 just 5 days after the D-Day invasion, and was heading towards the Dog Red portion of Omaha Beach. Just six miles from it's destination, LST 496 was hit by two mines and this caused such extensive damage to the ship that all power and engines were disabled. The navy had to abandon ship so the original records from that day were lost, however the next Navy officer in charge typed up a report. Casualties for Army Personnel were not listed, however 8 army officers were killed in the explosion and Brigido was probably one of them. His date of death is June 11th, 1944 and this was the most probable explanation as to how he died. All personnel were removed from the ship in time, including those injured and dead. I was able to find out this information by visiting the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This information was invaluable to me because I finally got to find out what had happened to my soldier. Brigido did not make it onto the shore that day, but his bravery and strength is unimaginable.
Other Sources used for Information
After Brigido's death, his family was notified on November 6th, 1944 even though he was killed 5 months before due to the fact that army personnel killed at sea were buried in temporary graves until they could be moved to a proper burial place.
Brigido's Death Announced in Hometown
Brigido's death in the war was announced in the Reno Evening Gazette on Thursday July 27th, 1944. Although Brigido's friends and family were notified earlier, probably during the summer of 1944, it was still devastating to see in the news. Unfortunately Brigido's father, Felipe, died on March 12th, 1945, only nine months after Brigido was killed. When I received Brig's file, it showed correspondence between the military and Brig's brother, Lavar Gonzalez, discussing Brig's burial arrangements because he was the next of kin. Brigido listed his sister, Evangeline, as his beneficiary, along with his father, in the case that he died during the war. His family received his belongings after a flurry of correspondence and were informed where he had been buried.