John Bradley (Marine)
John Henry "Doc" Bradley (born July 10, 1923 in Antigo , United States of America ; † January 11, 1994 ) was an American soldier of World War II and was long considered one of the soldiers on the famous Raising the Flag photograph on Iwo Jima . It was only in 2016 that it became known that this was not the case.
Life
Bradley grew up in Antigo, Wisconsin , and was employed by an undertaker before being drafted into the US Navy in January 1943 . After completing his basic training, he was trained as a medic and assigned to the 5th Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps as Hospital Corpsman of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment . From February 1945 he took part in the Battle of Iwojima , where he saved several wounded comrades. For this he was later awarded the Navy Cross . On February 23, he was when the American flag was first hoisted on the Suribachi volcanoinvolved. However, the resulting photograph was by no means as well known as the photo Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by photographer Joe Rosenthal in the same place. Bradley later became known as one of the soldiers who raised the second flag. On March 12, 1945, Bradley was wounded by shrapnel and eventually brought to the United States from Iwo Jima. There he was involved in an advertising campaign for war bonds as a suspected soldier of Rosenthal's photo together with the Marines Ira Hayes and Rene Gagnon . In November 1945, Bradley was discharged from the Navy , last with the rank of Hospital Corpsman Second Class ( Petty Officer Second Class ).
John Bradley returned to his hometown, where he later owned a funeral home and lived with his wife and eight children. His role in raising the flag became a. Thematized in the films You Were Our Comrade , The Outsider and Flags of Our Fathers .
It was only after his death that his son James Bradley realized the dimensions of the events on Iwo Jima and how important the role of those involved was, whereupon he wrote the book Flags of Our Fathers , in which the history and role of the flag hoists are processed. According to this, his father, like the other soldiers involved, should never have felt like a hero.
It wasn't until 2016 that Marine Harold Schultz was identified as the man who was actually in the photo instead of Bradley. In a statement, the book author James Bradley assumes that his father may have mistaken the first flag for the second because he was told that there was a photo of him when the flag was raised.
Awards
John Bradley received the following medals during World War II:
- Navy Cross
- Purple heart
- Presidential Unit Citation
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- Navy Good Conduct Medal
- Combat Action Ribbon
- World War II Victory Medal
The John H. Bradley Branch Health Clinic on the grounds of Marine Corps Base Quantico , The John Bradley Memorial in Appleton, Wisconsin, and Doc Bradley Hall on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune also bear his name.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Message from the Marine Corps to John Bradley
- ^ Flags of Our Fathers at The New York Times
- ^ Article in the Berliner Zeitung
- ^ Marines: Man in Iwo Jima flag raising photo misidentified
- ^ Website of the John H. Bradley Branch Health Clinic
- ^ Entry on Wisconsin Historical Markers
- ↑ Item to Docbradley Hall
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bradley, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bradley, John Henry (full name); Bradley, Doc (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American soldier of World War II and was long considered one of the suspected soldiers in the Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima photograph |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 10, 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Antigo , United States of America |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 11, 1994 |
| Place of death | Antigo , United States of America |