John Bradley (United States Navy)

John Bradley
Bradley in the White House, April 1945
Birth nameJohn Henry Bradley
Nickname(s)"Jack" or "Doc"
Born(1923-07-10)July 10, 1923
Antigo, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedJanuary 11, 1994(1994-01-11) (aged 70)
Antigo, Wisconsin, U.S.
Place of burial
Queen of Peace Catholic Cemetery, Antigo, Wisconsin
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service / branch United States Navy
Years of service1942–1945
Rank Pharmacist's Mate Second Class
Unit2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division
Battles / warsWorld War II
AwardsNavy Cross
Purple Heart Medal
Combat Action Ribbon

John Henry "Jack" "Doc" Bradley (July 10, 1923 – January 11, 1994) was a United States Navy Hospital corpsman who was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism while serving with the Marines during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. During the battle, he was a member of the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945.

Bradley was generally known as being one of the men who raised the second U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, as depicted in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by photographer Joe Rosenthal.[1] On June 23, 2016, the Marine Corps announced publicly (after an investigation) that Bradley was not in the photograph. The man long thought to have been Bradley was identified as Private First Class Franklin Sousley, who had previously been thought to be in another position in the photograph, and the man who had been originally identified as Sousley was identified as Private First Class Harold Schultz.[2][3] Bradley is one of three men who were originally identified incorrectly as flag-raisers in the photograph (the others being Hank Hansen and Rene Gagnon).[4]

The first flag raised over Mount Suribachi at the south end of Iwo Jima was deemed too small. Although there were photographs taken of the first flag flying on Mount Suribachi after it was raised that include Bradley holding the flagstaff, there is no photograph of the first flag-raising. The second flag-raising photograph became famous and was widely reproduced. Bradley also was photographed near the second flag. After the battle, Bradley and two Marines were identified as surviving second flag-raisers and were reassigned to help raise funds for the Seventh War Loan drive.

The Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, is modeled after Rosenthal's photograph of six Marines raising the second flag on Iwo Jima.

  1. ^ "The Pulitzer Prizes".
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference marines.mil was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Naval History Blog, U.S. Naval Institute, July 1, 2016 (May 9, 1945 interview with John Bradley)".
  4. ^ Robertson, Breanne, ed. (2019). Investigating Iwo: The Flag Raisings in Myth, Memory, and Esprit de Corps (PDF). Quantico, Virginia: Marine Corps History Division. pp. 243, 312. ISBN 978-0-16-095331-6.

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