ROY W. BRUNER, JR., LTJG, USN
Roy Bruner, Jr. '56
Roy William Bruner, Jr. was admitted to the Naval Academy from Montana on July 1, 1952 at age 20 years 8 months.
He resigned on February 4, 1954 with the note "Deficient in studies and discharged under honorable conditions."
Lucky Bag
The 1956 Lucky Bag lists Roy under the title "Those We Left Behind."
Photographs
From the 22nd Company Youngster photo, 1954 Lucky Bag. He was also in the 1953 Lucky Bag group photo, where he was also closing his eyes.
Loss
Roy was lost on December 9, 1957 when the airplane he was aboard crashed near Corpus Christi, Texas.
Other Information
From The News-Reunion of Roseburg, OR, on December 10, 1957:
CORPUS CHRISTI, Tex. in The names of nine men killed when a Navy seaplane plunged to the ground in flames soon after taking off here Monday were released by the Navy Monday night. An engine exploded and blew one of the plane's wings off. One man parachuted to safety. He was Storekeeper L. C. Sam Griffin and he was badly burned.
The dead: Lt. Cmdr. James N Scofield, 40, pilot, Coronado, Calif.; Lt. (jg) Howard B. Uickerson, 23, copilot, Arlington, Va.; Lt. (jg) Roy W. Bruner Jr., 26, navigator, Silver Spring, Md.; John J. Lanna, 41, aviation machinist's mate, Chula Vista, Calif.; Paul Faircloth, 27, aviation electronics mate, Jacksonville, Fla.; Karl B. Dumler, 38, chief aviation metalsmith, Imperial Beach. Calif.; Richard K. Kiermaier, 24, aviation metalsmith, San Diego, Calif.; Daniel S. Kwas, 19, aviation electrician's mate, Detroit; and Carl P. Renn, aviation machinists mate (home town unavailable).
The body of the ninth victim was found after darkness Monday night.
The ship was from Patrol Squadron 48 based at San Diego, Calif. It was en route to Baltimore, Md., and stopped at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station to refuel. It took off and started trailing smoke.
From an email on December 4, 2017 from a Class of '56 representative:
Death reported in Shipmate class column, Feb. 1958, page 40, Bruner spent one and one-half years at the Academy, 22nd Company, then went to Navy flight training and was commissioned July ’56. His brother John Willis Bruner, USNA ’48, is now deceased, according to Alumni Association records.
Roy is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Roy Sr. and his wife Virginia are also buried in Arlington Cemetery. His father was USN. In late November 1940, Virginia, John age 14 and Roy age 9 traveled from Manila to San Francisco on the S S Washington. I assume his father was there.
Note
It's possible Roy was a member of the Naval Reserve; he's not listed in the regular Navy officer registers for 1956 or 1957.
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