Finding Aid for the Vincent R. Bradley Second World War correspondence 2020.012.w.r
Andrew Harman
Center for American War Letters Archives
1/8/2020
Leatherby Libraries
Chapman University
Orange, CA 92866
speccoll@chapman.edu
Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Vincent R. Bradley Second World War correspondence
source:
Dodds née Bradley, Melynda
Creator:
Bradley, Vincent Ray , Staff Sergeant, 1919-2015
Identifier/Call Number: 2020.012.w.r
Physical Description:
0.01 Linear feet
(1 folder)
Date (inclusive): 1944 April 15 - 1945 September 28
Abstract: This collection contains five correspondence from SSgt. Vincent R. Bradley, USA to his family during the Second World War.
Also included are one clipping, four photographs, and one unit history, both photocopy and transcribed.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: WWII 154
Container: 6
Container: 1
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Melynda Dodds.
This collection is arranged by material type and chronology of correspondence.
Staff Sergeant Vincent Ray Bradley, United States Army (10/12/1919 - 1/5/2015) was born in Pendleton, Indiana on his parents'
farm. He graduated from Pendleton High School in 1937 and later married Phyllis Jean Bahr. He worked for General Electric
Supply Co. when he enlisted on February 18, 1943. Bradley served with Battery A, 463 Anti-aircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons)
Battalion from Normandy through France and Germany to Czechoslovakia, landing at Utah beach on June 28 (D-Day +24) and demobilizing
in July 1945.
After the war, Bradley tried farming and factory work, but became a carpenter and worked in commercial construction until
retirement. He and Phyllis had three children, Doug, Diana, and Melynda, and remained married until she passed in 2003. Vincent
Bradley passed away in January 2015 at the age of 95.
[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Vincent R. Bradley Second World War correspondence (2020.012.w.r), Center
for American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
This collection contains five correspondence from SSgt. Vincent R. Bradley, USA to his family during the Second World War.
Of the correspondence are three handwritten letters and two V-Mail, and the collection also includes one clipping, four photographs,
and one unit history, both photocopy and transcribed.
In his correspondence Bradley asks about people at home and mentions in his July 1 letter that his unit is "Category 4 which
means that we are surplus and will be inactivated." The photographs include shots of him in uniform with other soldiers and
the clipping includes a picture of him and his brother, Technical Sergeant James L. Bradley, USA meeting in Ochshausen, Germany
after being separated two and a half years.
Names of soldiers included in photographs are as follows:
- Ohio: Louis Bumfield [?]
- California: Jack Nelson, Earl Smoot
- Connecticut: Francis Carberry (or Canberry), James Arnold, Carroll Piecyk, Gavin Blair (or Blaire)
- Massachussetts: Louis Allard, Norman Chaquette, James Buckley, Phillip Cash
- West Virginia: Ernest Booth
- New Hampshire: Francis Silva
- No home town listed: John Clark
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War (1939-1945)
Correspondence -- World War, 1939-1945
World War (1939-1945) -- Europe
United States -- Army -- European Theater of Operations
World War (1939-1945) -- Germany
Dodds née Bradley, Melynda