Description:

Bradley Omar

1pp war dated TLS on bifold cream “Twelfth Army Group, Office of the Commanding General, A.P.O. 655, U.S. Army” letterhead, signed by “O.N. Bradley, Lieutenant General, U.S.A.” as “O.N. Bradley” in black felt tip pen at lower right. In near fine condition, with expected horizontal paper folds, each page measuring 6.375" x 8". Three following pages blank.

Bradley addressed this September 28, 1944 letter to one “Mrs. Emma Bracken” (1901-1969) of Bridgeport, Connecticut, originally enclosing a signed photograph (not included in this lot). “It is encouraging to have your generous letter of good wishes and I am pleased to know you follow our effort in France with such concern”, Bradley wrote. “Our troops are fighting superbly, hoping to respond to the wants of everyone at home for an early ending to this war”. Emma Bracken’s obituary notice appeared in the November 27, 1969 issue of the Bridgeport Telegram twenty-five years later.

Some of Omar Bradley’s understated and gentle demeanor is on display in this letter to a concerned Connecticut citizen. Unlike other prominent World War II-era Generals, most notably the passionate George S. Patton, Jr. (1885-1945), Bradley was soft-spoken and courteous, leading war correspondent Ernie Pyle (1900-1945) to dub him “the G.I.’s General”.

Bradley graduated from West Point’s class of 1915, referred to as the “class the stars fell on” for its large number of general officers [including future army general and 34th U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)]. Bradley’s first military experience was guarding the U.S./Mexico border and then copper mines in western Montana during World War I. In the interwar period, Bradley taught mathematics and military training. In World War II, Bradley commanded troops in North Africa and Sicily before overseeing Operation Torch for the U.S. First Army in the D-Day Invasion of Normandy.

Bradley’s statement about “our efforts in France” referred to Allied efforts to push the Nazis out of France in the months after the initial D-Day invasion. Bradley and Patton famously disagreed about how to handle the situation in the so-called Falaise Pocket, and ultimately, tens of thousands of retreating Nazis escaped from “the trap with a gap”. About a month later and around the time that he wrote this letter, Bradley was shepherding his Twelfth Army Group to the “Siegfried Line” of the German frontier. Bradley was instrumental in orchestrating later Allied advances into Germany leading up to the 1944-1945 Battle of the Bulge.

After the war, Bradley continued his military service by heading up the Veterans Administration under 33rd U.S. President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972). He later served as Chief of Staff of the Army, and during the Korean War, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Bradley’s biography, A Soldier’s Story, was published two years before he retired from military service.

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