Born on February 12, 1893, in Clark, Missouri, Omar Bradley came from a poor family. He was the son of a school teacher and from a very young age the importance of a good education was stressed to him. He was educated in the local public schools, but upon graduating from high school he applied and was exempted from West Point. He entered the academy in 1911 at the age of 18 and graduated in 1915. In addition to himself, his class contained many future generals giving the West Point Academy class of 1915 the name “The class they fell upon. the stars”.

On leaving West Point he joined the 14th Regiment, but never saw action in Europe during the First World War. During this time he served on the Mexican border and it was here that he was promoted to captain. After the war he taught mathematics at West Point from 1920 to 1924 and was promoted to specialization. As a major he served briefly in Hawaii and then went to school at Fort Leavenworth, Texas at the Command and Staff College from 1928 to 1929. It was not until 1936 that Omar Bradley was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In February 1941 he was promoted to Brigadier General and Commander of Fort Benning.

During World War II, General Bradley was known as “The Soldiers General” due to his care and compassion for the soldiers under his command. During the war he served as one of the main field commanders in North Africa and Europe. General Omar Bradley commanded the 12th Army group which in 1945 included 4 field armies, 12 corps and 48 divisions with a total of 1,300,000 men. This was by far the largest field command in American history. Bradley served his country well during World War II and was a key factor in the Allied victory in Europe.

After the war, General Bradley became chief of Veterans Affairs for a short time. It was in 1949 that he became the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the government’s new Defense Department. His career in the service of his country continued for several years in different positions until his retirement from active service in August 1953. On April 8, 1981, retired Army General Omar Bradley died at the age of 87 in the city of New York.

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