Jack Bradley
Jack Wayne Bradley
Jack Wayne Bradley proudly served his country as a United States Marine and as a police officer. He was born and raised in Gaffney, South Carolina, one of four sons of Minnie and A.G. Bradley and a member of a large extended family, which remains close and loving. As did his two older brothers Fred and Bill, and younger brother, Donnie, Jack found early joy and success in sports, especially football. In his later years, he became a runner, completing a dozen marathons, nine of which were the Marine Corps Marathon. Most recently, he was an avid bicyclist, enjoying numerous statewide, week-long bicycle rides. His proudest ride was a 500-mile trek across North Carolina he accomplished on the first year anniversary of major surgery for prostate cancer -the first time Agent Orange reared its ugly head in our lives. Jack served in the United States Marine Corps from March 26, 1964 to March 25, 1967. As a member of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, he served in Vietnam from April to December 1965 as a member of one of the first combat units. An automatic rifleman, he was hit by shrapnel and temporarily blinded on May 5, 1965, after the point man tripped a wire outside the village of LeMy. Thirty-nine years later, in April 2004, Jack became the proud recipient of the Purple Heart Medal. After leaving the Marine Corps, Jack became a police officer for the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department , where he was a detective for 2 1 years, until retiring and becoming a federal police officer at the Supreme Court of the United States. There he served as sergeant in charge of training, a job he loved. In the fall of 2000, Jack was diagnosed and successfully operated on for prostate cancer caused by Agent Orange. During the following three years, he led a contented life, enjoying his love for reading, bicycling, working in the yard, playing with his cats, spending time with his family, and training police officers at the Supreme Court. Every month, Jack and I would bring flowers and a remembrance to the Wall to honor his Marine brothers from Echo 2/3 and other units who had been killed in action in that month. Early in 2004, Jack was diagnosed with his second, and ultimately fatal, Agent Orange disease - non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. After traditional chemotherapy failed, he underwent a stem cell transplant. Throughout the winter of 2004, he struggled to continue working at the Supreme Court, although he lost 60 pounds and was very weak. We were able to go on a few short bicycle rides and looked forward to his remission. Sadly, in spring of 2005, he began having strokes as a complication of the disease, and ultimately died on June 27, 2005. Jack was buried in Arlington National Cemetery among his brothers-in-arms, an honor he earned as a Purple Heart recipient. His family, friends, and colleagues miss him deeply, and are proud of his service to his country and of this honor today.
