First Lieutenant Bruno Ribeiro Mário, 1983 - 2010
(Brazil)
Captain Bruno Ribeiro Mário, a national of Brazil, was deployed to the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for six months.
Born in São Gabriel, Rio Grande do Sul, Bruno completed his education at the Military College of St. Mary in 2005. The following year, he graduated from the Military Academy of Agulhas Negras in Rio de Janeiro and joined the 5th Battalion Light Infantry in Lorena, São Paulo where he volunteered to work in Haiti in July 2009.
Bruno always discussed the situation in Haiti with his family during their frequent interactions on Skype. “He always talked about poverty,” one relative said.
An uncle described him as a soldier who had realized his potential up to the last day of service. “Bruno will always be remembered as a very happy guy loved by all. He has fulfilled his mission and we’ll always be proud of him,” he said.
“He was finishing his mission, everything was fine. Even with the violence in Haiti, he said it was fine,” said his father Alacir José, himself a former member of the military.
Bruno was preparing for a trip home to Brazil to celebrate his 27th birthday with his family.
A ceremony was held on 22 January at the Brasilia Air Base to honour Bruno and his fallen colleagues, which was attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and First Lady Marisa Letícia. President Lula called their work with MINUSTAH “the noblest humanitarian mission ever carried out by the Brazilian Armed Forces.”
Bruno and his colleagues posthumously received a promotion and the Peacemaker Medal from their country for outstanding acts of courage and bravery under lifethreatening circumstances.
Bruno is survived by his father Alacir José, his mother Ângela, and his sister Daniele.