James L. Bradley

Major General James Lester Bradley (May 18, 1891 − July 30, 1957) was a United States Army officer who commanded the 96th Infantry Division throughout its existence in World War II.

Early life and military career

James Lester Brown was born on May 18, 1891, in Doniphan, Missouri. He was the son of Spencer Price and Mary Watts Bradley. Desiring a military career, he entered the United States Military Academy (USMA) in 1910 and graduated from there four years later, in 1914, the same year that World War I began in Europe. After graduating, 37 in a class of 107, he was assigned to the United States Army's Infantry Branch as a second lieutenant. Among his fellow graduates included men such as William H. Holcombe, James B. Cress, Charles P. Gross, Brehon B. Somervell, Robert W. Crawford, Dabney O. Elliott, Arthur R. Harris, LaRhett L. Stuart, John B. Anderson, Harry C. Ingles, John H. Woodberry, Harold F. Loomis, Carl Spaatz, Harold R. Bull, Charles M. Milliken, Joseph W. Byron, Paul C. Paschal, Francis R. Kerr, Vicente Lim, Sylvester D. Downs Jr., Orlando Ward, Benjamin G. Weir, Ralph Royce, William O. Ryan, Frank W. Milburn, John B. Thompson and Jens A. Doe. All of them would later rise to the rank of brigadier general or higher in their later military careers

While he was at the USMA he became friends with Dwight D. Eisenhower, who would graduate the following year and ultimately become President of the United States.

Bradley's first assignment was with the 19th Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to first lieutenant on July 1, 1916, followed by another promotion to captain on May 15, 1917. By this time, the United States had entered World War I. He was promoted yet again, to major in the National Army, on June 17, 1918. He, like many other U.S. Army officers of his generation, did not see service in World War I. By now, World War II in Europe had already begun but the United States was still neutral.

World War II

Bradley remained in this post until May 1942, five months after the American entry into World War II due to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the German declaration of war. Bradley was by now a brigadier general, having been promoted to that rank in September 1941. For most of the war his assistant division commander (ADC) was Brigadier General Claudius Miller Easley.

After over two years spent training in the United States, including two months spent training in the Hawaiian Islands from July−September 1944, Bradley and his 96th Division were sent to the Pacific theater of war to fight against the Empire of Japan.

The division saw action for the first time during the battle of Leyte in October 1944. The division continued fighting in mainly small-unit actions until, by Christmas Day 1944, all organized resistance by the Japanese had ceased. From then onwards, Bradley's 96th Division was, for the next three months, engaged mainly in security duties, clearing up the rest of the island of Japanese resistance, and training for future operations, most notably the upcoming invasion of Okinawa.

Personal life On December 6, 1916, Bradley married Pauline Clarkson, from San Antonio, Texas, in Del Rio, Texas and together went on to have only a single child, a daughter, Mildred C. Bradley Walter. On September 28, 1949, Bradley's wife Pauline died in San Mateo, California.