John Bradley (Iwo Jima)
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- This page is about the United States naval corpsman and recipient of the U.S. Navy Cross. For other people with the same name, see John Bradley.
| John Bradley | |
|---|---|
| July 10, 1923 - January 11, 1994 | |
 John Bradley stands next to a War Bond drive poster depicting the flag raising. |
|
| Nickname | "Doc" |
| Place of birth | Antigo, Wisconsin |
| Place of death | Antigo, Wisconsin |
| Allegiance | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1942-1945 |
| Unit | 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines |
| Battles/wars | World War II * Battle of Iwo Jima |
| Awards | Navy Cross Purple Heart |
John "Jack" "Doc" Bradley (July 10, 1923 – January 11, 1994) was a US Navy corpsman during World War II, and one of the six men who took part in Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. Accompanying him were SGT Michael Strank, CPL Harlon Block, PFC Ira Hayes, and PFC Franklin Sousley. About halfway up the mountain, they were joined by PFC Rene Gagnon, who had a larger flag on orders to place it so that it could be seen from great distance.
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[edit] Early years
Born John Henry Bradley in Antigo, Wisconsin to parents James and Kathryn Bradley, he was the second-eldest of five children. Growing up in Appleton, Wisconsin, John had an interest in entering the funeral parlor business from an early age.
[edit] World War II
When he was 19, his father suggested that he enlist in the Navy so he could avoid ground combat; but then he got transfered to a marine training camp, which led him to instead participate in the assault on Iwo Jima, one of the most intense battles of the Pacific War's island-hopping campaign.
In March 1943, John began training as a Navy Corpsman and was initially stationed at US Naval Hospital Oakland, before being reassigned to the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps which was being formed at Camp Pendleton, California. After the famous flag-raising at Mt. Suribachi, John Bradley was awarded the Navy Cross for rushing to a wounded man's aid under heavy Japanese fire. He received several shrapnel wounds to his legs a few days later, and was evacuated from the combat zone to a hospital in Hawaii.
Pharmacist's Mate Second Class Bradley was awarded the following decorations and awards:
- Navy Cross
- Purple Heart
- Presidential Unit Citation with one star (for Iwo Jima)
- American Campaign Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one star (for Iwo Jima), and;
- World War II Victory Medal
[edit] Navy Cross citation
"For extraordinary heroism in action against the enemy at Iwo Jima on February 21, 1945 as a hospital corpsman attached to a Marine Rifle platoon. During a furious assault by his company upon a strongly defended enemy zone at the base of Mt. Suribachi, Bradley observed a Marine infantryman fall wounded in an open area under a pounding barrage by mortars, interlaced with a merciless crossfire from machine guns.
With complete disregard for his own safety, he ran through the intense fire to the side of the fallen Marine, examined his wounds and ascertained that an immediate administration of plasma was necessary to save the man's life. Unwilling to subject any of his comrades to the danger to which he had so valiantly exposed himself, he signaled would-be assistants to remain where they were. Placing himself in a position to shield the wounded man, he tied a plasma unit to a rifle planted upright in the sand and continued his life saving mission. The Marine's wounds bandaged and the condition of shock relieved by plasma, Bradley pulled the man thirty yards through intense enemy fire to a position of safety. His indomitable spirit, dauntless initiative, and heroic devotion to duty were an inspiration to those with who he served and were in keeping with the highest tradition of the United States Naval Service."
[edit] Post-war life
Sgt Strank, Cpl Block, and Pfc Sousley were all killed in action later on in the battle. Only Bradley, Hayes and Gagnon survived the battle, and were brought back to the United States to tour the country for the seventh war bond drive. The bond drive helped lift morale back stateside.
Following his appearances at the last bond tour, John Bradley married his childhood sweetheart, Betty Van Gorp, settled down in Antigo, and had eight children. He rarely took part in ceremonies celebrating the flag raising, and by the 1960s avoided that altogether. He fulfilled his life-long dream by buying and managing his own funeral parlor, but was tormented by memories of the war; Betty says he wept in his sleep for several years and kept a large knife in a dresser drawer for "protection". He also had many flashbacks of his best war pal Iggy, who was kidnapped and tortured by Japanese soldiers. Bradley never could forgive himself for not being there to try and save his best friend's life.[citation needed]
He rarely spoke of the raising of the flag, stating once that he "just happened to be there." His son James Bradley (who wrote a book about the flag-raisers in 2000 titled Flags of Our Fathers) speculated that his father's determined silence and discomfort on the subject of his role in the Battle of Iwo Jima was largely due to memories of John's best friend, Ralph "Iggy" Ignatowski. In his own words, and only once, he briefly told his son what happened with "Iggy".
- I have tried so hard to block this out. To forget it. We could choose a buddy to go in with. My buddy was a guy from Milwaukee. We were pinned down in one area. Someone elsewhere fell injured and I ran to help out, and when I came back my buddy was gone. I couldn’t figure out where he was. I could see all around, but he wasn’t there. And nobody knew where he was.
- A few days later someone yelled that they’d found him. They called me over because I was a corpsman. The Japanese had pulled him underground and tortured him. His fingernails... his tongue... It was terrible. I’ve tried hard to forget all this."
According to official reports, Ignatowski was captured, dragged into a tunnel by Japanese soldiers during the battle, and was later found with his eyes, ears, fingernails, and tongue removed, his teeth smashed, the back of his head caved in, multiple bayonet wounds to the abdomen, his arms broken, and his severed genitalia stuffed into his mouth.[citation needed] Bradley's recollections of discovering and taking care of Ignatowski's remains haunted him until his death, and he suffered for many years from Post-traumatic stress disorder.
John Bradley died of a stroke in an Antigo hospital on January 11, 1994, at the age of 70, the last of the six men to raise the second flag. He said more than once to his children that the only real heroes on Iwo Jima were those that did not survive. John Bradley's family had no idea he had received the Navy Cross until after his death.
[edit] Portrayal in film
- Bradley portrayed himself in the 1949 war film, Sands of Iwo Jima. It starred John Wayne. The other two surviving flag-raisers also participated.
- Bradley was played by Forrest Compton in the 1961 film The Outsider.
- Ryan Phillipe portrayed him in the 2006 film Flags of Our Fathers.
[edit] External links
- John Bradley's account of the Battle of Iwo Jima from the US Navy's oral history program
- James Bradley (John Bradley's son) & Ron Powers (2000). Flags of Our Fathers. Bantam. ISBN 0-553-11133-7. A history of the flagraisers
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Battle of Iwo Jima | 1923 births | 1994 deaths | American military personnel of World War II | Navy Cross recipients | People from Wisconsin | Recipients of the Purple Heart medal | United States Navy sailors
