Royce S Bringhurst
Military
media-55827.png
UPL 55827
TSGT Royce S. Bringhurst
Radio Operator/Gunner/Togglier
340th BG - 489th BS - 12th AF
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
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-814637
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-468362
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Pilot
- 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
- Aircraft Type: B-25 Mitchell
- Nicknames: Lady Luck
- Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-25 Mitchell
- Nicknames: Ruthie
- Unit: 340th Bomb Group
- Aircraft Type: B-25 Mitchell
- Nicknames: Dammit!
- Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-25 Mitchell
- Nicknames: Comin Over Hun
- Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-25 Mitchell
- Nicknames: Flak Fodder II
- Unit: 340th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Squadron
Places
- 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 |
Revisions
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