Second Lieutenant Carroll Baxter Bryan was born October 15, 1922 to Frank and Stella Rickard Bryan of Kodak. He was in one of the last graduating classes of Beech Springs High School. He was an apprentice carpenter for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) when he was drafted into the Army Air Forces. By February of 1943, he had graduated from bombardier school and was serving in the European theater. A June 1944 clipping from the Knoxville News Sentinel mentions his service in Italy, though his base was the Watton Air Base in Debden, England. He was assigned to the 8th Air Force, 25th Bomb Group, 654th Bomb Squadron. He was a navigator on a de Havilland DH 98, Mosquito PR Mrk XVI. At the time it was considered the fastest bomber in the world.
On December 23, 1944, Bryan, along with pilot Flight Officer James D. Spear (b. June 7, 1917 in Pittsburgh, PA) crashed in a wooded area outside of Dursley, Gloucester during a series of test flights. Both men were killed instantly. Their bodies were repatriated in 1948. Bryan is buried in Henry Crossroads Cemetery in Kodak. He is also remembered on a war memorial in England. He was survived by his parents, his sister Helen Smith and nephew Colin Smith. Colin died childless in 1995, so Bryan has no living close relatives.
Bryan’s page on the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial: https://www.etvma.org/veterans/carroll-b-bryan-10593/
