Henry C. Bruton was born on 15 March 1905 in
Belleville, Arkansas as the son of Postal clerk Walther Arthur Bruton and his wife Martha Jane McMullen. He attended the public schools in
Little Rock, Arkansas and graduated from the
Central High School there in summer of 1921 and was able to secure an appointment to the
United States Naval Academy at
Annapolis, Maryland. Bruton entered the Academy in June 1922 as
Midshipman and during his tenure he was active in
Gym squad, also earning nicknames "Ches" or "Brute". Bruton graduated with
Bachelor of Science degree on 3 June 1926 and was commissioned
Ensign at that date. He subsequently served aboard the
battleships
California and
Mississippi within the
Pacific Fleet before received orders to report for instruction at the
Naval Submarine Base New London,
Connecticut in June 1929. Concurrently with the transfer order for submarine training, Bruton was promoted to
Lieutenant (junior grade). Upon the completion of the training in January 1930, Bruton was assigned submarine
S-47 under lieutenant Dorrance K. Day and took part in peacetime patrol cruises in the
Pacific Ocean. During his time with that vessel, he also completed
torpedo instruction before being ordered to the
Naval Postgraduate School in June 1932. Within his studies, he was sent to the
University of California, Berkeley and graduated with a
Master of Science degree in
Radio engineering in June 1935. Bruton then joined the submarine
Narwhal and participated in the peacetime patrols with the
Pacific Fleet off the coast of
Hawaii until March 1936 when he was transferred to the staff of Submarine Squadron 5 under Commander
Andrew Carl Bennett operating with the
Asiatic Fleet. He was promoted to
Lieutenant in June 1936 and served as Squadron Communications officer until the beginning of 1937 when he assumed command of submarine
S-39. While aboard that vessel, Bruton conducted patrols along the
China coast during
Second Sino-Japanese War. In April 1940, Bruton departed
Far East and returned stateside for Instruction in the Office of
Judge Advocate General of the Navy. He completed the postgraduate course in law and earned a
Juris Doctor degree from the
George Washington University Law School. Additionally to his degree he also became a member of the Bar of
U.S. District Court of appeals for the District of Columbia and a member of the
Order of the Coif. ==World War II==