Marion Progress

Sgt. Bryson Injured
In the Philippines
Old Fort Man Wounded In
Right Foot In Battle Of
Capitan Hill On Leyte.

One of the first casualties of the Philippine liberation campaign to reach the United States. Technician 3d Grade Sidney O. Bryson, 22, of Old Fort, North Carolina, an Infantry medical aid man, spoke with warm pride of the fighting spirit of his Doughboy comrades.

Sergeant Bryson, who was attached to the 96th Infantry Division, was wounded October 21 in the battle of "Captain Hill" on Leyte. Hit in the right foot and ankle by fragments of an enemy mortar shell which exploded five yards away from him, he hastily gave himself first aid and then resumed his task of caring for wounded Infantrymen.

"Naturally," he declared in an interview at Letterman General Hospital, San Francisco, Cali., released last week, "I wasn't going to let my own wound stop me from doing my job. If there was one thing I ever wanted to do in my life it was to help those Doughboys."

The Infantry regiment to which Sergeant Bryson was attached was one of the spearheads of the Philippine invasion, landing on Leyte on D-day. Enemy opposition was intense, particularly from mortar fire he reported.

"The Japs opposed us with crack Imperial Marines." he said. "I remember it was sort of a shock to me, the first I saw of the Nips. because I had thought of them as little, bandy-legged characters. But these Marines were ferocious six-footers."

Because of his insistence upon remaining on duty hours after he was hit, Sergeant Bryson lost much blood. Thus, when he was evacuated to a battalion aid station, it was necessary for him to have a blood transfusion immediately, followed Plasma.

Sergeant Bryson's wife, Mrs. Lois Bryson resides in Old Fort. His mother, Mrs. Cordelia Bryson, and his sister. Mrs. F. S. Moffitt, live at Copeland Park, Newport News, Va. He received his basic training at the Infantry Replacement Training Center, Fort McClellan, Ala., and joined the 96th Infantry Division at Camp Adair, Oregon. From Letterman General Hospital, he was evacuated to Northington General Hospital, Tuscaloosa, Aia. The sergeant has been awarded the Purple Heart.

WOUNDED ON LEYTE--Technician 3d Grade Sidney O. Bryson, 22, an Infantry "medic" of Old Fort North Carolina, was one of the first casualties of the Philippine liberation campaign to be evacuated to the United States. He is pictured at Letterman General Hospital, San Francisco, California. Sgt. Bryson was wounded in the right foot and ankle by Jap mortar shell fragments on' Leyte last October 21. He continued to care for other casual ties for hours after he was wounded. The sergeant, who was attached to the 96th Infantry Division, has been awarded the Purple Heart