Italian American Joseph Giordano, former chief of surgery and director of the trauma center at George Washington University Hospital—who played a critical role in saving President Ronald Reagan’s life after he was shot in a 1981 assassination attempt—passed away on June 24, just two days after his 84th birthday.

A vascular surgeon who had previously served at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Giordano joined the GW Hospital staff in 1976. One of his early tasks was to overhaul the hospital’s emergency department. On the afternoon of March 30, 1981, President Reagan was leaving the Washington Hilton near Dupont Circle around 2:30 p.m. when six shots were fired in quick succession. Several people were hit and collapsed on the sidewalk.

At first, it wasn’t clear whether Reagan had been wounded. Secret Service agent Jerry Parr pushed him into the presidential limousine and climbed into the back seat with him. Reagan complained of chest pain and had blood on his lips. Parr immediately ordered the driver to head to GW Hospital instead of returning to the White House. Less than ten minutes later, Reagan walked into the ER under his own power before collapsing.

Dr. Giordano was with other patients in another wing of the hospital when he was paged urgently over the intercom to report to the trauma unit.

When he first saw Reagan, the president was lying on a gurney. “How are you feeling, Mr. President?” Giordano asked. “I’m having trouble breathing,” Reagan replied. Acting quickly to stabilize the president’s deteriorating condition, Giordano made an incision in Reagan’s chest and inserted a plastic tube, which immediately began to fill with blood from internal bleeding.

“He was critically injured—I believe he was close to dying,” Giordano later said. He determined the bleeding was caused by a gunshot wound. Before being put under anesthesia, Reagan cracked a joke to the doctors gathered around him: “Please tell me you’re all Republicans.” Giordano replied, “Today, Mr. President, we’re all Republicans.”

Dr. Giordano’s office wall was covered with accolades he received for his efforts to save President Reagan’s life, including a citation from the Italian government and a letter from first lady Nancy Reagan.

On September 15, 1984, President Reagan gave his remarks at the Annual Dinner of the National Italian American Foundation. He dedicated a heartful thought to Dr. Giordano, with these words: "Before I leave you tonight, I want to add just one more thing. Decades and decades back, there was an Italian immigrant who came to America. And he started a family and worked hard and raised his children as best he could. One of his sons became a milkman. He, too, worked hard and married and had a family. And then the mailman -- or the milkman, I should say, raised his children as he had been raised. They were taught to respect honesty, decency, and hard work. They struggled to make ends meet. All of the money went to the education of their children. They put one son through college, and when he said he wanted to be a doctor, they put him through medical school. Because of their diligence, the son became a prominent surgeon in a great hospital. And one day that surgeon, that son of a milkman, saved the life of a President of the United States who'd been shot. I know this story, because I was the patient. Dr. Joseph Giordano is the surgeon. The hero of this story is Joseph Giordano, Sr. -- retired milkman and inheritor of the Italian-American tradition. I have thanked the Giordanos, but I've not had a chance to personally thank a group like this for all that you've done to keep the tradition alive."