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| Pfc. Earl Bradbury, was in a 155mm howitzer battalion and died in Okinawa. https://owlcation.com/humanities/ArtilleryBattalions Cemetery Memorial of the Pacific, photo by Don Milne https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=103622856&ref=acom |
Earl Austin Bradbury never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on October 3, 1917 in Oklahoma. His parents were both born in Missouri. His father worked as a lead and zinc miner. Earl had two younger sisters and three younger brothers. By 1940 Earl had completed four years of high school and was still living at home while working as a shoveler.
Here is a case where truth really is stranger than fiction. In March 1942 Earl married the widow Daphne McCullough Davis, whose husband died in 1939. Daphne was born in 1889, married her first husband in 1909 and had two children that were older than her second husband Earl. I don't know the circumstances that prompted this union.
Earl enlisted in the army on March 3, 1943 and became a private first class in the 1st 155mm Howitzer Battalion, 1st Marine Artillery Corps. Private Bradbury fought in the battles of Guam, Saipan, and Okinawa. He was wounded while fighting in Okinawa and died from his wounds on June 1, 1945.
His grave is at Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery in Miami, Oklahoma. His widow died in 1949.
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.
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
They will never be forgotten due to people like you. thank you for taken up this project, Don. God Bless you!
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