Awarded Navy Cross, Purple Heart, and Air Medal with Gold Star. Served as pilot of carrier-based combat plane in Composite Squadron Eighty aboard USS Manila Bay. According to Navy Cross citation while pursuing fleeing forces "Bryan voluntarily carried out a long-range strike in company with planes from several other squadrons and, plunging through a heavy curtain of merciless anti-aircraft fire, upon contact with the enemy, executed a daring bomb attack to score two direct hits on a hostile cruiser, leaving the Japanese warship disabled and smoking heavily. Determined to annihilate the enemy force, he continued bold tactics, releasing his rockets in a low altitude run which inflicted serious damage below the water line on an enemy destroyer. Stout-hearted and aggressive in the face of fanatic opposition, Lieutenant Junior Grade, Bryan, by his superb airmanship, indomitable fighting spirit and tenacious perseverance in the fulfillment of an urgent mission, contributed materially to the final rout of the Japanese fleet."