Omar Nelson Bradley was born on February 12, 1893, near Clark, Randolph County, Missouri. He was the first child born to John and Sarah Hubbard Bradley. Omar had a younger brother named John who died at the age of two. Omar’s father was a teacher who sometimes walked six miles to work. Omar was just fourteen when his father died of pneumonia. He later said that his father inspired him to be reliable, modest, and responsible.

Shortly after John Bradley’s death, Sara Bradley moved to Moberly where Omar attended high school. She rented rooms to boarders and became a professional seamstress. Omar worked at odd jobs to help with the bills. At school he was a good student and athlete. During that time, Omar met Mary Quayle, whom he eventually married. They both graduated from Moberly High School in 1910.

Following high school, Omar Bradley went to work. His plan was to save enough money to attend the University of Missouri in Columbia. One day his minister suggested that he apply to the United States Military Academy (West Point). In the summer of 1911, Bradley took the exam in St. Louis. He earned the region’s top score and was invited to attend the Academy.

Military life at West Point is demanding. Cadets must take difficult classes and live up to a strict code of conduct. Bradley later stated that his Missouri upbringing prepared him for these challenges. As a student he ranked 44th in a class of 164 and lettered in both football and baseball. Many of his classmates would become important leaders. One of them was Dwight Eisenhower, another outstanding general and a future president.

For about twenty-five years, Omar Bradley was a little-known officer in a small peace time army. He and Mary Quayle wed in Columbia, Missouri, in 1916. Like most military families, they moved quite often. Their one child, Elizabeth, was born in 1923. Bradley served in many different ways during those years. During World War I, while other soldiers gained experience in France, Bradley was sent to Montana to guard valuable copper mines. Afterwards, he taught at colleges and attended army advanced training schools at Fort Benning and Fort Leavenworth. Bradley rose in rank and trained troops. He learned the fundamentals of command and military organization during these noncombat years. With strong leadership and strategic skills in hand, Bradley was prepared to face the great challenges that lay ahead.

World events brought rapid change for Bradley. By 1940 another world war seemed likely. The army hurried to get ready. Bradley was named the commander of the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. During these months, he created a school to train new officers. It was so successful that it was copied throughout the army.

The first major campaign in which the U.S. Army fought was in North Africa in early 1943. The inexperienced American II Corps was defeated at the Kasserine Pass by the Germans. Many were worried. General Eisenhower, the American commander, sent for Omar Bradley. “Brad,” as he was known in the army, was ordered to study the situation and make changes. When the II Corps next went into battle, it drove the Germans back and captured 40,000 soldiers. General Bradley then served in the successful invasion of Sicily. The army was learning to fight well, and Bradley was one of the main reasons for it.

After Sicily, Bradley was appointed to one of the most important jobs of the war. He would be the field commander of American soldiers on June 6, 1944, also known as “D-Day.” The successful attack allowed the Allies to move directly against the German army in France. Within a year, Bradley’s forces were the first to invade Germany and were in control of much of that country when the war ended in May 1945.

As World War II ended, President Harry S. Truman asked General Bradley to lead the Veterans Administration. The VA was set up to provide help to the millions of veterans who had fought in the war. Bradley’s leadership skill and his reputation as the “Soldier’s General” made him an excellent choice. He served the VA until he was asked to take over another big job in 1948, the chief of staff. That is when he became the highest-ranking soldier in the army. The next year he became the first ever Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 1950, Congress appointed him General of the Army with five stars. In all of U.S. history only two soldiers, George Washington and John Pershing, have held higher rank.

At the age of sixty in 1953, Bradley retired. For about fifteen years, he was the chairman of the Bulova Watch Company. In 1965, Mary, his wife of almost fifty years, died of leukemia. He married Esther “Kitty” Buhler on September 12, 1966. Over the next several years, Bradley helped with the major film, Patton, and worked on an autobiography published after his death. Omar Bradley died of heart failure on April 8, 1981. He was buried with honors at Arlington National Cemetery.