Bradley, Omar Nelson (1893-1981), led the largest field command ever amassed in battle under the United States flag. His troops fought alongside British and Canadian troops led by British General Bernard L. Montgomery. The troops swept through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia following the 1944 Normandy invasion during World War II (1939-1945). Bradley’s Twelfth Army Group consisted of the U.S. First, Third, Ninth, and Fifteenth armies—about 1 million men, in more than 40 combat divisions.
Bradley was born in Clark, Missouri, on Feb. 12, 1893. In August 1911, he entered the United States Military Academy and began a career of over 69 years in the Army. He remained on active duty until his death.
Bradley graduated from the academy in 1915. He served at several Army posts in the United States during World War I (1914-1918), and advanced to the rank of major. In World War II, he succeeded General George S. Patton as commander of the Second Army Corps, or II Corps, in the Tunisian campaign. Bradley later led this unit in the Sicilian campaign. He took command of the First U.S. Army for the invasion of France. He then led the Twelfth Army Group in France from August 1944 until the war’s end. Bradley had a policy of keeping his command post near the front lines and visiting the front.
In 1948, Bradley became chief of staff of the U.S. Army. He served as the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1949 to 1953. Also during those years, he was on the Military Committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Bradley became a General of the Army in September 1950. His book A Soldier’s Story (1951) relates his World War II experiences. Bradley died before a second book, A General’s Life (1983), was completed. He died on April 8, 1981.
