Farmington, IL - John M. Baudino, 79, of Christian Buehler Memorial Home in Peoria for the past 10 years, formerly of Farmington, died at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, March 25, 1993, at Humana East Hospital in Montgomery, Ala.
Born Jan. 28, 1914, in Gilchrist to John M. and Luigia Riesino Baudino, he married Christine L. Johnson on May 16, 1943, in Madison, Wis. She survives.
Also surviving are two daughters, Jean B. Williams of Montgomery, Ala. and Rebecca L. Baudino of Seattle; and two grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his stepfather, Charles Ferro.
A 1939 graduate of Knox College, he graduated from the University of Illinois school of law in 1942.
He served in the Army Military Intelligence Division as a bodyguard for Enrico Fermi, an Italian-born physicist who led scientists in the development of nuclear fission, which led to invention of the atomic bomb under the Manhattan Project. He was with Fermi at the first controlled, self-sustained nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago and at the test of the first atomic bomb at White Sands, N.M. In 1989 he told the Journal Star, "There was no noise. I had my eyes shut. Then I recall seeing red. It was like someone had pushed a flashlight to my eyes while they were closed.
"I opened my eyes to the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. It was brighter than a hundred suns -- all kinds of colors. A stem shot up and it became a mushroom. Seconds later I could feel the wind. Then it was like a vacuum and with it came this terrible roar -- a terrible noise."
After his military service, he practiced law with the Baudino, Potter and Mass law firm in Farmington until he retired in December 1980. He was past president of the Fulton County Bar Association and a 50-year member of the Illinois State Bar Association.
He was a member of Farmington American Legion Post 140; Farmington Rotary Club; Farmington Masonic Lodge 192, AF&AM; Mohammed Temple, Shrine, in Peoria, and Farmington Moose Lodge 1571. He also was a member of Farmington United Methodist Church.
Burial will be in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Farmington.
March 27, 1993 | Peoria Journal Star, The (IL)
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Comment made to the story titled Bringing Fermi in on the Bomb (1943) by Alex Wellerstein, published July 4th, 2012, found on the web.
Stan Norris says:
July 4, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Alex,
Fermi's bodyguard was John Baudino. He was born January 28, 1914 in Gilchrist, Illinois. He was a 200 pound center on the Knox College football team and graduated from University of Illinois Law School in 1942. He enlisted in the Army and became an intelligence officer. He was about to go to Sicily when he was assigned to guard Enrico Fermi. Groves ordered him to "never let him out of sight," to listen to his conversations but not let him know that you speak Italian. Fermi and Baudino met for the first time on December 1, 1942, the day before CP-1 went critical. Over the next three years Baudino accompanied Fermi everywhere and met many famous people and saw important events, including Trinity. There is the famous story of Fermi often introducing Baudino to his fellow scientists as "my colleague" and saying; Soon Johnny will know so much about the project he will need a bodyguard too." (Racing for the Bomb, p. 274). He died on March 25, 1993. at age 79.
Born Jan. 28, 1914, in Gilchrist to John M. and Luigia Riesino Baudino, he married Christine L. Johnson on May 16, 1943, in Madison, Wis. She survives.
Also surviving are two daughters, Jean B. Williams of Montgomery, Ala. and Rebecca L. Baudino of Seattle; and two grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his stepfather, Charles Ferro.
A 1939 graduate of Knox College, he graduated from the University of Illinois school of law in 1942.
He served in the Army Military Intelligence Division as a bodyguard for Enrico Fermi, an Italian-born physicist who led scientists in the development of nuclear fission, which led to invention of the atomic bomb under the Manhattan Project. He was with Fermi at the first controlled, self-sustained nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago and at the test of the first atomic bomb at White Sands, N.M. In 1989 he told the Journal Star, "There was no noise. I had my eyes shut. Then I recall seeing red. It was like someone had pushed a flashlight to my eyes while they were closed.
"I opened my eyes to the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. It was brighter than a hundred suns -- all kinds of colors. A stem shot up and it became a mushroom. Seconds later I could feel the wind. Then it was like a vacuum and with it came this terrible roar -- a terrible noise."
After his military service, he practiced law with the Baudino, Potter and Mass law firm in Farmington until he retired in December 1980. He was past president of the Fulton County Bar Association and a 50-year member of the Illinois State Bar Association.
He was a member of Farmington American Legion Post 140; Farmington Rotary Club; Farmington Masonic Lodge 192, AF&AM; Mohammed Temple, Shrine, in Peoria, and Farmington Moose Lodge 1571. He also was a member of Farmington United Methodist Church.
Burial will be in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Farmington.
March 27, 1993 | Peoria Journal Star, The (IL)
~
Comment made to the story titled Bringing Fermi in on the Bomb (1943) by Alex Wellerstein, published July 4th, 2012, found on the web.
Stan Norris says:
July 4, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Alex,
Fermi's bodyguard was John Baudino. He was born January 28, 1914 in Gilchrist, Illinois. He was a 200 pound center on the Knox College football team and graduated from University of Illinois Law School in 1942. He enlisted in the Army and became an intelligence officer. He was about to go to Sicily when he was assigned to guard Enrico Fermi. Groves ordered him to "never let him out of sight," to listen to his conversations but not let him know that you speak Italian. Fermi and Baudino met for the first time on December 1, 1942, the day before CP-1 went critical. Over the next three years Baudino accompanied Fermi everywhere and met many famous people and saw important events, including Trinity. There is the famous story of Fermi often introducing Baudino to his fellow scientists as "my colleague" and saying; Soon Johnny will know so much about the project he will need a bodyguard too." (Racing for the Bomb, p. 274). He died on March 25, 1993. at age 79.
Farmington, IL - John M. Baudino, 79, of Christian Buehler Memorial Home in Peoria for the past 10 years, formerly of Farmington, died at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, March 25, 1993, at Humana East Hospital in Montgomery, Ala.
Born Jan. 28, 1914, in Gilchrist to John M. and Luigia Riesino Baudino, he married Christine L. Johnson on May 16, 1943, in Madison, Wis. She survives.
Also surviving are two daughters, Jean B. Williams of Montgomery, Ala. and Rebecca L. Baudino of Seattle; and two grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his stepfather, Charles Ferro.
A 1939 graduate of Knox College, he graduated from the University of Illinois school of law in 1942.
He served in the Army Military Intelligence Division as a bodyguard for Enrico Fermi, an Italian-born physicist who led scientists in the development of nuclear fission, which led to invention of the atomic bomb under the Manhattan Project. He was with Fermi at the first controlled, self-sustained nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago and at the test of the first atomic bomb at White Sands, N.M. In 1989 he told the Journal Star, "There was no noise. I had my eyes shut. Then I recall seeing red. It was like someone had pushed a flashlight to my eyes while they were closed.
"I opened my eyes to the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. It was brighter than a hundred suns -- all kinds of colors. A stem shot up and it became a mushroom. Seconds later I could feel the wind. Then it was like a vacuum and with it came this terrible roar -- a terrible noise."
After his military service, he practiced law with the Baudino, Potter and Mass law firm in Farmington until he retired in December 1980. He was past president of the Fulton County Bar Association and a 50-year member of the Illinois State Bar Association.
He was a member of Farmington American Legion Post 140; Farmington Rotary Club; Farmington Masonic Lodge 192, AF&AM; Mohammed Temple, Shrine, in Peoria, and Farmington Moose Lodge 1571. He also was a member of Farmington United Methodist Church.
Burial will be in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Farmington.
March 27, 1993 | Peoria Journal Star, The (IL)
~
Comment made to the story titled Bringing Fermi in on the Bomb (1943) by Alex Wellerstein, published July 4th, 2012, found on the web.
Stan Norris says:
July 4, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Alex,
Fermi's bodyguard was John Baudino. He was born January 28, 1914 in Gilchrist, Illinois. He was a 200 pound center on the Knox College football team and graduated from University of Illinois Law School in 1942. He enlisted in the Army and became an intelligence officer. He was about to go to Sicily when he was assigned to guard Enrico Fermi. Groves ordered him to "never let him out of sight," to listen to his conversations but not let him know that you speak Italian. Fermi and Baudino met for the first time on December 1, 1942, the day before CP-1 went critical. Over the next three years Baudino accompanied Fermi everywhere and met many famous people and saw important events, including Trinity. There is the famous story of Fermi often introducing Baudino to his fellow scientists as "my colleague" and saying; Soon Johnny will know so much about the project he will need a bodyguard too." (Racing for the Bomb, p. 274). He died on March 25, 1993. at age 79.
Born Jan. 28, 1914, in Gilchrist to John M. and Luigia Riesino Baudino, he married Christine L. Johnson on May 16, 1943, in Madison, Wis. She survives.
Also surviving are two daughters, Jean B. Williams of Montgomery, Ala. and Rebecca L. Baudino of Seattle; and two grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his stepfather, Charles Ferro.
A 1939 graduate of Knox College, he graduated from the University of Illinois school of law in 1942.
He served in the Army Military Intelligence Division as a bodyguard for Enrico Fermi, an Italian-born physicist who led scientists in the development of nuclear fission, which led to invention of the atomic bomb under the Manhattan Project. He was with Fermi at the first controlled, self-sustained nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago and at the test of the first atomic bomb at White Sands, N.M. In 1989 he told the Journal Star, "There was no noise. I had my eyes shut. Then I recall seeing red. It was like someone had pushed a flashlight to my eyes while they were closed.
"I opened my eyes to the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. It was brighter than a hundred suns -- all kinds of colors. A stem shot up and it became a mushroom. Seconds later I could feel the wind. Then it was like a vacuum and with it came this terrible roar -- a terrible noise."
After his military service, he practiced law with the Baudino, Potter and Mass law firm in Farmington until he retired in December 1980. He was past president of the Fulton County Bar Association and a 50-year member of the Illinois State Bar Association.
He was a member of Farmington American Legion Post 140; Farmington Rotary Club; Farmington Masonic Lodge 192, AF&AM; Mohammed Temple, Shrine, in Peoria, and Farmington Moose Lodge 1571. He also was a member of Farmington United Methodist Church.
Burial will be in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Farmington.
March 27, 1993 | Peoria Journal Star, The (IL)
~
Comment made to the story titled Bringing Fermi in on the Bomb (1943) by Alex Wellerstein, published July 4th, 2012, found on the web.
Stan Norris says:
July 4, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Alex,
Fermi's bodyguard was John Baudino. He was born January 28, 1914 in Gilchrist, Illinois. He was a 200 pound center on the Knox College football team and graduated from University of Illinois Law School in 1942. He enlisted in the Army and became an intelligence officer. He was about to go to Sicily when he was assigned to guard Enrico Fermi. Groves ordered him to "never let him out of sight," to listen to his conversations but not let him know that you speak Italian. Fermi and Baudino met for the first time on December 1, 1942, the day before CP-1 went critical. Over the next three years Baudino accompanied Fermi everywhere and met many famous people and saw important events, including Trinity. There is the famous story of Fermi often introducing Baudino to his fellow scientists as "my colleague" and saying; Soon Johnny will know so much about the project he will need a bodyguard too." (Racing for the Bomb, p. 274). He died on March 25, 1993. at age 79.
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