In an effort to connect with his visiting grandson, Grampa Jack recounts a time when his life was forever changed with his eldest brother's return from duty after WWII to the family farm with a new pet...Bruno, a giant black bear.

SYNOPSIS:

An orphaned cub is brought from Maine to an airbase in eastern Canada where it is soon discovered by a sympathetic Base Commander and is trained and declared the base mascot. With the death of the young pilot and the end of the war, Bruno's future is in doubt until a young technician - Corporal Donald Davidson - makes a deal to bring the bear home to his family farm, a thousand miles away.

Seven year old Jack, returns home from school, emerging from the corn rows where he his from a family of bullies to find Bruno tied to the clothes line.

Over the Autumn of 1945, Bruno becomes the beloved pet of the Davidson family, and is a bit of a novelty around the farming community. As the temperature drops, Bruno becomes less agreeable as he wants only to eat and hibernate, causing concern with the family.

Meanwhile, a local politician with a dark plan for his use of the bear tries to acquire Bruno for his own political gain. The story is told in present day by Grampa Jack (who tells the story from a visiting room at a retirement home) to his visiting grandson Eric in a roundabout way of describing how me met the girl who would become Eric's grandmother.

THE STORY OF PRIVATE BRUNO