Omar Nelson Bradley (1893 - 1981)

Omar Nelson Bradley was one of America’s greatest generals. He commanded the largest American force ever united under one man’s leadership during World War II. Afterwards, General Bradley became the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He served as a five-star general and had the longest military service in U.S. history.

Cadet Bradley Bradley as a West Point cadet.

Bradley almost skipped the West Point exam. He worried that he was not ready for the algebra questions since he had not studied the subject for three years. Also, he learned that at least one of the other young men had been studying an entire year for the test. He decided to take the exam only after the Wabash Railroad gave him a free pass to St. Louis.

On the day of the test, Bradley used all the time allowed but still did not answer all the questions. He returned to his job in Moberly convinced that he had not done well. On July 27, 1911, a telegram arrived at Bradley's home that changed his life. It congratulated him for placing first on the exam. The telegram also informed Bradley that he had just four days to report to the academy on August 1, 1911.

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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.

United States Military Academy U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Most people refer to the United States Military Academy as West Point. West Point is a site on the Hudson River north of New York City. The United States Military Academy has been located there since 1802.

Young people who want to attend the academy must be nominated by a member of Congress or by the army itself. The coursework is challenging. Unlike most colleges, each cadet must also participate in demanding physical training. At the end of a four-year program, successful cadets are awarded a bachelor of sciences degree. They are also commissioned as second lieutenants, the lowest officer's rank in the army.

Omar Bradley was nominated for the academy by Congressman William M. Rucker. While at West Point Bradley played football and baseball. At graduation he was made a second lieutenant of infantry. Bradley did not become a general for twenty-six years.

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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.

Mary Quayle Mary Elizabeth Quayle Bradley (July 25, 1892 – December 1, 1965)

Mary Elizabeth Quayle was the daughter of Charles and Eudora Goodfellow Quayle. She had one sister, Sarah Jane, who was two years younger. Charles Quayle was the sheriff of Moberly and a highly respected citizen. When Mary was ten, her father died of tuberculosis.

Mary attended Moberly High School and graduated in 1910. She then moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota, for college, where an aunt was a teacher. Following two years of college, Mary took a teaching job in Albert Lea, Minnesota. In 1914, Mary, Sarah Jane, and their mother moved to Columbia, Missouri, so the girls could attend the University of Missouri.

In the summer of 1915, Mary became engaged to Omar Bradley who had just graduated from the United States Military Academy. Mary had known Bradley for some time. The families were neighbors in Moberly, and the two were in the same high school class. They planned to marry in the spring of 1916; however, only a few weeks before the ceremony, the army ordered Bradley to the Mexican border. The wedding was postponed. Shortly afterwards, Mary contracted typhoid fever. She was ill for months. While in the hospital, she lost all of her hair. Finally, on December 28, 1916, Mary Quayle and Omar Bradley were married in Columbia, Missouri.

For the next forty-nine years, Mary Quayle Bradley was an “army wife.” She moved many times, from one army post to another. There were other times when she was separated from her husband for months. After two problem pregnancies, she gave birth to a healthy daughter in 1923 and named her Elizabeth. As Mrs. Omar Bradley, Mary met many important military and political leaders.

When General Bradley retired from the army, the couple settled in Los Angeles. They then moved to Washington, DC, where Mary was close to her six grandchildren. In poor health, Mary entered Walter Reed Hospital where she died of leukemia on December 1, 1965. She is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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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 At the time of the 1920 census, Bradley was teaching military science at South Dakota State College.

[1920 Federal Census] 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.

The Threat of War

The threat of war had become real by the late 1930s. Japan invaded China in 1937. The United States and other nations protested, but did little to make Japan stop. Germany invaded Poland in 1939. As a result, France and Britain declared war on Germany. At the time this political cartoon was published, Germany was invading France. Americans were very worried about their future. Would the U.S. have to go to war, too?

Daniel Fitzpatrick was the creator of “Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse.” He won two Pulitzer Prizes for his editorial cartoons. “Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse” appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on June 4, 1940.

The following points may help to interpret “Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse”:

• Apocalypse means the end of the world.
• The Bible uses the term “four horsemen of the apocalypse” to refer to causes of mankind's destruction.
• Fitzpatrick's “fifth horseman” implies that there is an additional cause of mankind's destruction.
• The face of the “fifth horseman” is a death skull.
• The hairstyle of the “fifth horseman” is the same as Adolf Hitler's.
• The “fifth horseman” has a swastika armband, symbol of the Nazi Party.
• “Air power” refers to the powerful German Luftwaffe, or air force.

[SHS St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Cartoon Collection, June 4, 1940]

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, Parachute training at Fort Benning.

In 1940 the government feared that the United States Army would be drawn into war. At that time the army had only about 175,000 soldiers. The Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) had millions of soldiers. The government ordered the army to expand quickly. Army Chief of Staff George Marshall needed leaders who could organize large numbers of men and develop them into soldiers. One of the men he turned to was Omar Bradley. Bradley was appointed to command the infantry school at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1941. Before being called overseas, he directed the training of thousands of men and officers.

[Courtesy of the Library of Congress] Georgia. During these months, he created a school to train new officers. It was so successful that it was copied throughout the army.

Kasserine Pass Soldiers scouting the Kasserine Pass in North Africa in 1943.

[Ralph J. Shoemaker Papers, 1920-1964 (C3350), The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection-Columbia]

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, Dwight D. Eisenhower (left) and Omar Bradley (right).

[SHS 007089] the American commander, sent for Omar Bradley. “Brad,” General Bradley's signature.

[W. Stuart Symington Papers, 1918-1995 (C3874), The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection-Columbia] 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.

Allies landing in France on D-Day

A bird’s-eye view of landing craft, barrage balloons, and allied troops landing in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. The Allies (Americans, British, Canadians, and others) put thousands of men and tons of supplies on the Normandy beaches in France as quickly as possible.

Early in World War II, Germany defeated France. After the United States entered the war, it made plans with Britain to drive the Germans out of France. The code word for the planned invasion was “Overlord.” Operation Overlord would put armies on the shores of northern France at a place known as Normandy. The beaches where the armies would land were given code words: Gold, Sword, Juno, Utah, and Omaha.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower was in charge of all “Allied” troops: American, British, and Canadian. It was up to him to decide when the invasion would begin. The code word for that day was “D-Day.” Nobody, not even Eisenhower, knew ahead of time when D-Day was. That way, German spies could not find out when the attack would begin. Although there were many appointed “D-Days” during World War II, Operation Overlord's D-Day is the most famous. When Eisenhower decided all was ready, he set June 6, 1944, as D-Day for the Normandy invasion.

Operation Overlord was well planned, but risky. The Germans were sure to fight hard. As it turned out, the invasion resulted in about ten thousand American, British, and Canadian casualties. The deadliest fighting took place at Omaha Beach. At least 1,500 Americans died that morning. Twice that number were wounded. The Germans were forced to retreat. Hundreds of ships brought the tons of equipment and goods needed by the Allies to remain in France.

General Omar Bradley commanded the American troops that landed on D-Day. His army eventually numbered over one million, the largest ever commanded by an American general. During the rest of 1944, the Germans were pushed back toward the borders of Germany. Bradley's army advanced deep into Germany in 1945 and played a key role in winning the war in Europe.

[Courtesy of the Library of Congress] After D-Day, troops moved inland. The high banks on the roadsides were called “hedgerows.” German troops used hedgerows like forts. Driving the Germans out caused the Allies many casualties.

[Ralph J. Shoemaker Papers, 1920-1964 (C3350), The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection-Columbia] Three of Bradley's soldiers in Belgium, 1944. The Germans tried to break through American lines in Belgium in what is known as the Battle of the Bulge.

[Ralph J. Shoemaker Papers, 1920-1964 (C3350), The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection-Columbia] The rows and rows of "dragon's teeth" were intended to stop tanks. They were part of a German defensive system called the Westwall. Americans called it the "Siegfried Line." Bradley's troops broke through the Westwall in 1945 and into Germany itself.

[SHS 026639] [Ralph J. Shoemaker Papers, 1920-1964 (C3350), The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection-Columbia] View toward Omaha Beach, Normandy, France, in 2008.

[Courtesy of Henry D. Landry] This German gun is one of many that shelled the soldiers landing on the beaches in 1944. Today it is a tourist attraction.

[Courtesy of Henry D. Landry] This view better shows the size of the German gun.

[Courtesy of Henry D. Landry] U.S. Military Cemetery, Normandy, France, in 2008.

[Courtesy of Henry D. Landry]

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.

Bradley in 1946 General Omar Bradley received an honorary degree from the University of Missouri in 1946. Here he is pictured with University President Frederick A. Middlebush, Missouri State Senator Allen McReynolds, and Governor Phil M. Donnelly.

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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” More than sixteen million citizens served in the U.S. military during World War II. About eleven million were in the army while the rest served in the navy and marines.

People relied heavily on newspapers for information during World War II. One of the most widely read journalists was Ernie Pyle. During the fighting in Sicily (1943), General Eisenhower told Pyle to “go discover Bradley.” After meeting Bradley, Pyle wrote a lot about the Missouri general. He was especially impressed by the attention Bradley paid to the care and treatment of his soldiers. Pyle praised him as the “soldier's general.”* That is the nickname Bradley has been known by ever since.

Bradley and Pyle became good friends. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the general invited the correspondent aboard the warship Augusta to observe the landing. Later in the war, Pyle was killed during a battle. He was mourned by the millions who read his reports on the war and by his friend Omar Bradley.

*Some writers transformed Pyle's label for Bradley into “the GI's General.” During World War II, however, the initials “GI” were not used to stand for an American soldier. Rather, “GI” was an abbreviation for government issue or general issue.

[St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Cartoon Collection, SHS, March 20, 1944] 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 Bradley wrote a history and his autobiography.

Omar Bradley wrote two books: A Soldier's Story (1951) and A General's Life: An Autobiography (1983). The autobiography was completed by Clay Blair after Bradley's death.

In 1950 a correspondent named Kitty Buhler interviewed General Bradley. The two became friends, and after the publication of A Soldier's Story, Buhler gained film rights to the book. In 1966, a year after Bradley's wife, Mary, died, he and Kitty Buhler married. Shortly afterwards, Kitty Bradley spoke to people who were making a film about General George Patton. Bradley knew Patton very well and had written about him in A Soldier's Story. The filmmakers hired General Bradley to advise them on their movie and used his book for the basis of the screenplay.

One of the main characters in the movie was General Omar Bradley. The role of Bradley was played by the actor Karl Malden. In 1971 the film Patton won seven Academy Awards.

The International Movie Data Base provides information on Bradley's association with Patton.

[Courtesy of Henry D. Landry] published after his death. General Bradley's death was front-page news.

[Columbia Missourian, April 9, 1981] Omar Bradley died of heart failure on April 8, 1981. He was buried with honors at Arlington National Cemetary. The Bradley tombstone in Arlington Cemetery.

General Omar Bradley was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in 1981 alongside his first wife, Mary Quayle Bradley. Esther “Kitty” Buhler Bradley survived her husband by twenty-three years. She was buried here in 2004. Visitors to Arlington National Cemetery can find the Bradley plot in Section 30, Lot 428-1, Grid AA-39.

[Russell Jacobs photo]

General Omar Bradley General Omar N. Bradley as Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1950.

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Because of his keen abilities to organize and lead, Omar Bradley became one of the most accomplished generals in the history of the United States Army. He defeated powerful enemy armies and earned a reputation for paying exceptional attention to the care of soldiers serving under him. He received widespread praise and was highly decorated during his lifetime. He remains a respected military figure today.