He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, from 1942 to 1946.

He was initially commissioned as a first lieutenant and rose to the rank of colonel by the end of his service.

He served in Europe and the Mediterranean, and received the Legion of Merit, the Croix de Guerre and the Order of the British Empire.

He was a member of the Temporary State Commission to Study the Organizational Structure of the Government of the City of New York from 1953 to 1954, and was counsel to the Temporary Commission on the Courts of the State of New York from 1954 to 1956.

[3] Bryan authored the opinion holding that D.H.Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's Lover was not obscene, based on its "redeeming social or literary value", introducing a standard henceforth upheld by the Supreme Court.