"Bronson was the first member of his family to graduate from high school.
As a young child, Bronson did not initially know how to speak English and only learned it in his teens. He spoke Polish at home.
Bronson's father died when he was 10, and he went to work in the coal mines.
Initially, Bronson worked in the office of a coal mine, later in the mine itself.
He worked there until he entered military service during World War II.
He earned $1 per ton of coal mined.
His family was so poor that, at one time, he reportedly had to wear his sister's dress to school because he had nothing else to wear.
In 1943, Bronson enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces and served as an aerial gunner in the 760th Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron, and in 1945 as a B-29 Superfortress crewman with the 39th Bombardment Group based on Guam.
He was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds received during his service."
Why isn't this f%$ker on the dollar bill? He's earned it.
