James P. Bryant was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1930 and he grew up there, attending St. Pauls Grammar School and Snyder High School. As a fifteen year-old in high school, he worked for about a year as an usher in the Bergen Theatre in Jersey City. Leaving school early, as soon as he turned seventeen he enlisted in the Army. He later went into the service, to avoid a dead end situation in a bad section of Jersey, and he was determined to take control of his own future. He entered active duty November 3, 1947 in New York, NY, did his 13 weeks of Basic Training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and then was sent to the Transportation School at Fort Eustis, Virginia where he...
