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| Medic PFC Karl Bradney was killed in action the day the 3rd Armored Division crossed the German border. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/140754071/karl-bradney https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/breaking-down-the-door-wwiis-battle-of-aachen/ |
Karl Bradney never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on March 28, 1919 in Ohio. His parents Robert and Verda Mae were also both born in Ohio. His father worked as a farm laborer and later as a dairy truck man. Karl had an older sister and a younger brother. By 1940 Karl had completed two years of high school and was working as a farm laborer. He later worked for the Dayton Waterworks.
He was drafted into the army in February 1942. His brother joined the navy and even his sister served by joining the WAVES.
Karl was trained as a medic and held the rank of private first class with the 32nd Armored Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Division (nicknamed "Spearhead"). PFC Bradney arrived in England in August 1943.
The 3rd Armored got to France in late June and early July. Its first major engagement was the Battle of St. Lo. By mid-August it was closing the Falaise Gap. In early September it had reached Belgium and helped cut off the retreat of thousands of German soldiers. Karl's hometown paper reported he had earned the Silver Star but it seems the citation has been lost.
The 3rd Armored was next assigned to the fighting in the Hürtgen Forest. On September 12 it crossed the German boarder to breach the Siegfried Line. PFC Bradney was killed in action this day when the 3rd Armored captured the first German town of the war - Roetgen.
His grave is at Mount Orab Cemetery in Mount Orab, Ohio.
Last year on this date I profiled Bedford Boy Nick Gillaspie, 29th Infantry Division who was killed on D-Day. You can read about Nick here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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