Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893-April 8, 1981) was U.S. Military General.
During World War II, he commanded the Second Army Corps in North Africa throughout the Tunisian and Sicilian campaigns.
He was the senior commander on the U.S. Ground Forces, 1944-45, for the invasion of France.
In August of 1944, he led the 12th Army Group in France and Germany, consisting of 1,000,000 men in four armies.
He was Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, 1948-49; made a five star general of the Army, 1950; and was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1949-53.
Born 1893, in a cabin near Clark, Missouri, he was a star player on his high school baseball team.
He worked for Wabash Railroad, until his Sunday School superintendent at Central Christian Church in Moberly, Missouri, recommended he apply to West Point.
President Eisenhower said, April 29, 1954:
<I thank General Bradley, my old comrade in arms, my classmate from West Point, my great associate in World War II.> 1893OB002
Bradley commanded the 2nd Army Corps in North Africa, was Senior Commander of U.S. Ground Forces for the invasion of France, and in August 1944 led the 12th Army Group in France and Germany, consisting of a million men in four armies.
General Omar Bradley was quoted in Edgar F. Puryear's "19 Stars: A Study in Military Character and Leadership" (1981):
<Dependability, integrity, the characteristic of never knowingly doing anything wrong, that you would never cheat anyone, that you would give everybody a fair deal. Character is a sort of an all-inclusive thing. If a man has character, everyone has confidence in him. Soldiers must have confidence in their leader.> 1893OB003
President Lyndon B. Johnson stated, May 23, 1964:
<General Bradley, you were the field commander of more American fighting troops than any commander in any era.> 1893OB004
General Omar Bradley was Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, 1948-49, and first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1950.
President Gerald Ford remarked upon presenting Omar Bradley with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, January 10, 1977:
<Military hero, courageous in battle, and gentle in spirit, friend of the common soldier, General of the Army, first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he embodies the best of the American military tradition with dignity, humanity, and honor.> 1893OB005
General Omar Bradley stated in an Armistice Day speech, November 11, 1948 (published in Omar Bradley's Collected Writings, Volume 1, 1967):
<We have men of science, too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants...If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.> 1893OB001
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
1893OB001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Omar Bradley, November 11, 1948, in an address he delivered on Armistice Day, or Veteran's Day. John Bartlett, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1855, 1980), p. 825. Omar Bradley's Collected Writings, Volume 1, 1967.