Pvt. George Alvin Bryant

George A. Bryant

Thon Book No. 4

The telegram which brought the tragic word to the Bryant family was received on Saturday, February 17th, with the customary wording:

Washington D.C. Feb 17, 1945.
Fred A. Bryant, Hat Creek, Wyo.

J. A. ULIO, The Adjutant General

A few days previous the family had received a letter written by their 19-year-old son on January 26, while he was in a foxhole, and they feel that possibly he was wounded shortly after writing it.

This letter, which the family believes is the last letter he ever wrote, and which they think he never had a chance to finish may have been taken off his body. It says

Dear Mom:
I thought I would write you a few lines to let you know I am OK. How is everybody getting along back there?

Write more later.
George

Private George A. Bryant was born in Lusk April 17, 1925. He finished High School in the spring of '43 and entered the service the following month and was sent overseas in December of the same year.

Just where he has been stationed during the past year and just what battles he has been engaged in may never be known now. But his folks do know that he saw action in New Guinea, Leyte and was in the invasion of Luzon when he met his heroic death.

Besides his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bryant, he is survived by two brothers, John of Lusk and Howell F. who is a member of the First Army now in Germany, and three sisters , Mrs. Verva Crofutt, and Mrs. Evelyn Moore of Lusk, and Mrs. Iris Cline of Ponca City, Okla.

Thon Book 4, 1948
Remains of Pvt. George A. Bryant To Reach Here Friday; Will Have Military Honors at Burial Saturday

On their last stretch back "home," remains of the late Pvt. George Alvin Bryant, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred A. Bryant of Hat Creek, are scheduled to arrive in Lusk tomorrow (Friday). Private Bryant was killed in action in the invasion of the Philippines, his death occurring January 30, 1945.

Concluding services will be conducted from the chapel of the Peet mortuary at 2:30 o'clock Saturday afternoon, August 7th. Rev. Clyde E. Hampton was to have officiated at the chapel services, but the tragedy in his family will no doubt change those plans. He is chaplain of the Wieten-Dupes Post of the American Legion.

Full military honors will be given the war hero, with members of Niobrara Post 3511, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the American Legion post jointly participating. Burial will be in the Lusk cemetery.

Private George Alvin Bryant was but 19 years of age when he fell in action. He was serving with the 172nd Infantry Division under General Leonard Wing. His immediate commanding officer was 1st Lieut. Rodney W. Jensen.

He had received his schooling in the institutions of Hat Creek and Lusk and completed his high school course with the class of '43. Shortly after his graduation, he was inducted into service.

His remains since he was killed were interred in the Santa Barbara cemetery on Luzon Island. They were returned to the United States under the Repatriation of World War II Dead program. First taken to the Utah General Distribution depot at Ogden, they are being forwarded here to be interred in their final resting place. T./Sgt. O. L. Durham, Sixth Army Escort Detachment, of the Utah depot, will accompany the body to this city.

Images & Attachments

Related/Linked Records