Royce S Bringhurst

Military

media-55827.png UPL 55827 TSGT Royce S. Bringhurst
Radio Operator/Gunner/Togglier
340th BG - 489th BS - 12th AF

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/265881555:1265?tid=&p…

Object Number - UPL 55827 - TSGT Royce S. Bringhurst Radio Operator/Gunner/Togglier 340th BG - 489th BS - 12th AF

A world-renowned strawberry expert who headed the University of California strawberry breeding program from 1953 to 1989.

Connections

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Units served with

340th Bomb Group

Unit Hierarchy: Group
Air Force: Ninth Air Force
Type Category: Bombardment

489th Bomb Squadron

Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
Air Force: Ninth Air Force
Type Category: Bombardment

People

George Germann Bleimes

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: O-814637
Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
Role/Job: Pilot

William Herbert Brassfield

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: O-468362
Highest Rank: Captain
Role/Job: Pilot

Quentin Clement Kaiser

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: 12084423
Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade)
Role/Job: Radio Operator/Gunner

Aircraft

43-27544

Aircraft Type: B-25 Mitchell
Nicknames: Lady Luck
Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron

43-27653

Aircraft Type: B-25 Mitchell
Nicknames: Ruthie
Unit: 340th Bomb Group

43-27655

Aircraft Type: B-25 Mitchell
Nicknames: Dammit!
Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron

43-27667

Aircraft Type: B-25 Mitchell
Nicknames: Comin Over Hun
Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron

43-27705

Aircraft Type: B-25 Mitchell
Nicknames: Flak Fodder II
Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron

Places

Alesan Airfield

Site type: Airfield
Known as: Advanced Landing Ground Alesanie

Events

Event	Location	Date	Description
Born	Murray, Utah	27 December 1918
	Nogales, Arizona	16 October 1940	320 Moon Street Apt. B
Other Combat Mission	Parma, Italy	6 July 1944	43-27667 9Z P - Brassfield
Other Combat Mission	Chiavari, Italy	12 July 1944	43-27544 9Y P - Perry
Other Combat Mission	Ile Rattoneau, France	27 August 1944	43-27653 9C P - Fitch
Other Combat Mission	Bologna, Italy	16 September 1944	43-27544 9Y P - Voss
Other Combat Mission	Borgoforte, France	30 September 1944	43-27705 9H P - Gerry
Other Combat Mission	Piancenza, Italy	1 October 1944	43-27655 9M P - Bleimes
Other Combat Mission	Ala, Italy	7 November 1944	43-4062 9G P - Rouse
Other Combat Mission	Cittadella, Italy	11 November 1944	43-35984 9B P - Rouse
Other Combat Mission	Faenza, Italy	17 November 1944	43-27662 9G P - McKinley
Other Combat Mission	Novska, Yugoslavia (now Croatia)	18 November 1944	43-27544 9Y P - King
Other Combat Mission	Villavernia, Italy	1 December 1944	43-27544 9Y P - Convis
Buried	Davis, California	1 December 2002	Davis Cemetery Davis, Yolo County, California, USA
Died	Davis, California	28 November 2005	Royce S. Bringhurst died in his home on Nov. 28, 2005, following a long illness. He was born Dec. 27, 1918, in Bennion, Salt Lake County, Utah, the fifth of seven children born to Florence Elizabeth Smith and John Tripp Bringhurst. He graduated from Granite High School in 1937, and attended Utah State College for two years, interrupting his schooling to serve in the Spanish-American Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from November 1939 to April 1942. Several weeks after his return, he married his high school sweetheart, Pearl Davidson, on May 14, 1942, in the Salt Lake City Temple. He departed shortly thereafter to serve in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II. He flew 65 combat missions in B-25 bombers over Italy, France and Germany as radioman, bombardier, photographer and navigator. After a six-year absence, he returned to college and graduated with a B.S. degree in agronomy from Utah State University in 1947. By 1950, he had completed master’s and doctorate degrees in agronomy and genetics from the University of Wisconsin. He took a faculty position at UCLA in 1950 as an avocado geneticist, and subsequently moved to UC Davis in 1953 to become a strawberry geneticist. At UCD he served as chairman of the pomology department for several years beginning in 1970 and retired from the university after 39 years of service in 1989. During his long career he developed some 30 strawberry varieties, which produced more than 75 percent of the nation’s strawberries. His work on day-neutral varieties changed the landscape of the strawberry industry and greatly extended the growing season. He was honored for his work as a Fellow in the American Society of Horticultural Science in 1970, and Utah State University awarded him an honorary doctorate at its 100th commencement in 1993. He consulted for the Ford Foundation, US AID, UN FAO and Argentina, Mexico, Italy, United Arab Republic and Egypt. Following his retirement, he and Pearl served from 1992 to 1994 as church service missionaries in Chile, where he trained Chilean farmers in fruit and berry production. A lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served as the first bishop of the student ward in Davis, beginning in 1971. He and Pearl served as temple workers in the Oakland Temple for 18 years. He enjoyed music and sang tenor with the Sacramento Symphony Choir; he also acted in local musical productions and was one of the original members of the Davis Comic Opera Company.
Other Graduated	Logan, Utah		Utah State University Bachelor of Science - Agronomy
Other Graduated	Madison, Wisconsin		University of Wisconsin PhD