The American Hero Channel will feature an upcoming episode on Delf “Jelly” Bryce on March 23rd at 10:00 PM EST or 7:00 PM. Steven C. Millwee was honored to be interviewed about his FBI mentor. Jelly Bryce was born and raised in the same hometown of Mountain View, OK as Mr. Millwee. Bryce had around eight shootouts (kills) during his time with the Oklahoma City Police detective in the late 1920’s, including the infamous shootout with Wilbur Underhill.  Bryce was one of four lawmen personally recruited by Director J. Edgar Hoover that had no college education, much less the mandatory law or accounting degree at that time due to their experience and expertise in shootouts.  

On November 12, 1945, Life Magazine ran an unusual story. It was a photographic study of Jelly Bryce drawing and firing his .357 Magnum in two-fifths of a second, faster than the human eye can follow. In the pictures Bryce dropped a silver dollar from shoulder height with his right hand then drew with the same hand and shot the coin before it reached his waist. What the article did not say was that Bryce could not only draw fast in front of a camera, but also in front of people who were trying to kill him.

"Mr. Bryce was my mentor as a young boy growing up on our family farm, where he taught me how to shoot and avoid getting shot.  Others say he killed 18 men in his career, though he told me of 38", said Millwee.

If you do not get the American Hero Channel, you can watch the episode the day or two after it airs by going to https://www.discoverygo.com/ahc/.