Omar N. Bradley
Omar Nelson Bradley was an American military officer who served in the United States Army across a career that extended from his early education through the highest levels of military command.
Born on February 12, 1893, in Moberly, Missouri, Bradley pursued his military education at the United States Military Academy, later continuing his professional development at the United States Army Command and General Staff College and the United States Army War College. These institutions formed the educational foundation from which he advanced through the ranks of the American military establishment.
Over the course of his service, Bradley accumulated a substantial record of military recognition. He received the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Legion of Merit — decorations that reflect the range and duration of his official duties. Beyond American military honors, he was also appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, a British distinction awarded to foreign officers of notable standing. The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor the United States government confers, further marked the breadth of acknowledgment he received across both military and civilian spheres.
Bradley died on April 8, 1981, in New York City, having been born nearly eighty-eight years earlier in a small Missouri town and having spent his life in the service of the United States government as both military officer and official. His biography, as shaped by the record, is one of institutional commitment — grounded in formal military education, sustained through decades of service, and recognized through decorations drawn from multiple nations and branches of public life.
Quotes by Omar N. Bradley
Omar N. Bradley's insights on:
Airpower has become predominant, both as a deterrent to war, and-in the eventuality of war-as the devastating force to destroy an enemy’s potential and fatally undermine his will to wage war.
We’ve learned how to destroy, but not to create; how to waste, but not to build; how to kill men, but not how to save them; how to die, but seldom how to live.
The nation needs men who think in terms of service to their country and not in terms of their country’s debt to them.
The greatness of a leader is measured by the achievements of the led. This is the ultimate test of his effectiveness.
We live in a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants, in a world that has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. We have solved the mystery of the atom and forgotten the lessons of the Sermon on the Mount. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about dying than we know about living.
Leadership means firmness, not harshness or bullying; understanding, not weakness; justice, not irresponsible freedom; humaneness, not intolerance; generosity, not selfishness; pride, not egotism.
America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry, and when that momentum runs down, God help America.
The smell of death overwhelmed us even before we passed through the stockade. More than 3200 naked, emaciated bodies had been flung into shallow graves. Others lay in the streets where they had fallen. ... Eisenhower's face whitened into a mask. Patton walked over to a corner and sickened. I was too revolted to speak. For here death had been so fouled by degradation that it both stunned and numbed us. ...
I learned that good judgment comes from experience and that experience grows out of mistakes.