Bryce grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1933. He would go on to specialise in medicine of the ears, nose, throat and eyes, but during the Second World War he served as a Flight Surgeon. This meant he was one of the officers responsible for the general health of the men of his unit, the 379th Bomb Group, based at Kimbolton. He also had to deal with casualties when they returned to base in damaged bombers.