Veteran of The Day 2-15-26

PVT BRUNO RAYMOND ABING ORIG

U.S. ARMY
Company G, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment
2nd Infantry Division

MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT (Posthumous)
KILLED IN ACTION | KOREAN WAR
Date of Sacrifice: February 15, 1951
Place: Vicinity of Chipyong-ni, Korea

Birth: 1930 (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Age at death: 20

Background and Family

Bruno Orig was born in January 1930, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was one of eight children raised in Honolulu by his mother Gregoria, father Hilario Orig (who died at age 41) and stepfather Leon Omboy. All three of his parents came to Hawaii from the Philippines.

Bruno’s father, stepfather, older brother and younger brother all served in the U.S. Army in WWI, WWII and Vietnam. He was 11 years old, living in Honolulu, when Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, spurring the United States to enter WWII.

Soon after graduating from Farrington High School in 1949, Bruno enlisted in the U.S. Army and was trained as a light weapons infantryman. Pvt. Orig was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, in South Korea. After only three months in country, Orig distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy forces in the vicinity of Chipyong-ni on Feb. 15, 1951.

During fierce fighting, the 20-year-old Orig removed his fellow wounded Soldiers to a place of safety and noticed that all except one man of a machine-gun crew had been wounded. Without hesitation, he volunteered to man the weapon. Remaining in this position, Orig placed such effective fire on the enemy that a withdrawing friendly platoon was able to move back without a single casualty. He continued to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy until the company positions were overrun. Later that day, when the lost ground was recaptured, Orig was found dead beside his weapon and the area in front of his gun was littered with enemy dead.

After Bruno died in combat, his younger brother Francis Omboy ended up serving in the Army and fought in Vietnam. Bruno belonged to a family that was rich in military service, family values, and selfless sacrifice. His sister Loretta, at 91 years old, is the only living member of the eight Orig/Omboy children, and their family military service has continued.

On February 15, 1951, during the desperate fighting around Chipyong-ni, Pvt. Bruno R. Orig returned from a wire-laying mission and found multiple fellow soldiers wounded during an ongoing enemy assault. (Army)

Without hesitation, he moved into the open under hostile fire to administer first aid and help carry the wounded to safety, staying exposed to danger while the attack continued.

His actions reflected something bigger than bravery. They were a decision, made in seconds, to put other lives ahead of his own.

Pvt. Orig was killed in action that day.

ABOUT THE BATTLE

The fighting at Chipyong-ni in mid-February 1951 became one of the pivotal engagements of the Korean War, where U.N. forces held firm against intense enemy pressure.