Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1948 Lucky Bag:

Ross Kay Bramwell

Ott is a typical Westerner from Ogden, Utah. A year of college lightened the academic burden and enabled him to pursue his varied interests, including women, a little more intensely. Ross’ remarkable all-round athletic ability, his keen appreciation of a joke, and his engaging conversation make him welcome in any gathering. Most noteworthy among his pet peeves: the Civil War controversy and the prevalent eastern conception of Utah as a broad, hot salt flat. He possesses an insatiable craving for toasted cheese sandwiches and life in his rugged Utah mountains. One has in Ross an associate extraordinary, who leaves nothing to be desired as a lifelong friend of highest accord.

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Ross was on the Brigade staff (1st set), was a member of the LOG staff, and a member of the Reception Committee. He graduated with the class of 1948-A, the last of the wartime-accelerated classes, in June 1947. (The bottom half of the class by academic standing, designated 1948-B, completed an extra year and graduated in June 1948.)

Loss

Ross was killed in action on September 4, 1951 over Korea when the F9F-2 Pantherjet fighter he was piloting was shot down, probably by anti-aircraft artillery, near Haengsan. He was assigned to Fighter Squadron (VF) 51 aboard the carrier USS Essex (CV 9).

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

In May 1942, Corporal Ross Bramwell of Company A was awarded the Sons of the American Revolution medal at Ogden High School. The medal was presented to the outstanding non-commissioned cadet in each year’s regiment for general all-around excellence in military activities.

In 1940, his father Wilford was a real estate dealer; mother Josephine. His brothers were Dee, a lawyer, and Junior, an office clerk in a flour mill. His sister June was a stenographer in a stationery store (probably Bramwells opened by her father years earlier.)

From The Salt Lake Tribune on September 7, 1951:

Lt. (j.g.). Ross K. Bramwell, 26, U. S. Navy, was killed Sept. 4 while flying a jet plane in combat over Korea, his wife, Mrs. Donna Rae Denkers Bramwell, 2526 Taylor Ave., was informed Thursday by the Department of Defense.

Lt. Bramwell had been in the Pacific area since last June and was assigned to Korea only three weeks ago. He was killed Tuesday while flying an F9F5 jet fighter in a combat zone, as a member of the 51st Fighter Squadron.

He was born June 8, 1925, in Ogden, a son of Wilfred L. and Josephine Spilsbury Bramwell. He was graduated from Ogden High School and Weber College which he attended under the Navy’s V-12 program during World War II. After graduating from Weber College, Lt Bramwell attended Idaho State College at Pocatello and then received an appointment as midshipman to the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. He later took Navy flight training at Pensacola, Fla., and Corpus Christi, Tex., and served aboard the aircraft carrier, USS Antietam.

On April 29, 1948, he married Donna Rae Denkers, in Ogden. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Surviving are his widow and a daughter, Catherine Mary Bramwell, Ogden; his parents, Los Angeles, Cal.; six brothers and two sisters: Lawrence W. Bramwell La Jolla, Cal.; Kent S. Bramwell San Francisco; Dee R. Bramwell, Alexandria, Va.; Ray J. Bramwell, Houston, Tex.; Wendell Bramwell, Denver, Colo.; Dr Paul Bramwell, Bremerton Wash.; Mrs. R. G. James and Mrs. Joe T. Johnson, Ogden.

His daughter, Catherine Bramwell, passed away on July 13, 2010. This obituary says her mother - Ross’ wife - predeceased her.

Though his remains were not recovered, he has a memorial marker at Arlington National Cemetery and is listed on the National Korean War Veterans Memorial.

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John Wick ‘48 was also on the LOG staff.