When Bronson was 10 years old, his father died and he went to work in the coal mines, first in the mining office and then in the mine.
[3] He later said he earned one dollar for each ton of coal that he mined.
[11] In another interview, he said that he had to work double shifts to earn $1 a week.
[14] Bronson later recounted that he and his brother engaged in dangerous work removing "stumps" between the mines, and that cave-ins were common.
[14]
The family suffered extreme poverty during the
Great Depression, and Bronson recalled going hungry many times. His mother could not afford milk for his younger sister, so she was fed warm tea instead.
[14] His family was so poor that he once had to wear his sister's dress to school for lack of clothing.
[15][16] Bronson was the first member of his family to graduate from high school.
Bronson worked in the mine until he enlisted in the
United States Army Air Forces in 1943 during
World War II.
[3] He served in the 760th Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron, and in 1945 as a
Boeing B-29 Superfortress aerial gunner with the
Guam-based 61st Bombardment Squadron
[17] within the
39th Bombardment Group, which conducted combat missions against the
Japanese home islands.
[18] He flew 25 missions and received a
Purple Heart for wounds received in battle.
[19]