Major General James Bradley

James Lester Bradley was born on 18 May 1891 in Doniphan, MO, to Spencer Price and Mary Watts Bradley.

James was a Cadet at the U.S. Military Academy from 1 March 1910 to 12 June 1914, when he graduated and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry and assigned to the 19th Infantry Regiment. During his time at West Point, he became friends with a Cadet in the Class of 1915, named Dwight David Eisenhower.

Bradley served at:

Vera Cruz, Mexico, 18 September- 25 November 1914;
Galveston, TX, to 3 December 1914;
Naco and Douglas, AZ, with 22nd Infantry, to 3 February 1915;
Galveston, TX, with regiment, to 18 September 1915;
Del Rio, TX, Camp and District Adjutant, to 4 June 1916;
Fort Sam Houston, TX, Acting and Battalion Adjutant, to 1 June 1917, when he was transferred to 57th Infantry;
Camp Travis, TX, to 10 July 1917;
Camp Stanley, TX, to 7 October 1917;
McAllen, TX, Commanding Post to 24 October 1917;
Fort Sill, OK, Student Officer at Infantry School of Arms to 25 November 1917, when he graduated;
Brownsville, TX, 27-30 November 1917;
Fort Sill, OK, Instructor at Infantry School of Arms to 5 October 1918;
Camp Benning, GA, Secretary of Infantry School of Arms,17 Oct to - .

During this period, Bradley received promotions to:

First Lieutenant, 19th Infantry, 1 July 1916;
Captain, 19th Infantry, 15 May 1917;
Major of Infantry, National Army, 17 June 1918.

Bradley's other assignments included: Command and General Staff School in 1925; Army War College in 1930; and Instructor, Command and General Staff School in 1932.

He was promoted to Colonel in 1940 and served first as Assistant Chief of Staff, 4th Army, then as Chief of Staff, 4th Army.

Bradley was promoted to Brigadier General in September 1941 and to Major General in June 1942. He became Commanding General of the 96th Infantry Division when it was activated on 15 August 1942, and commanded the Division through its entire existence in World War II; it was deactivated on 3 February 1946. Under his command, Bradley led the previously untested 96th Infantry Division into two major battles in the South Pacific: Leyte and Okinawa.

The Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita from 17 October to 31 December 1944. The battle launched the Philippines campaign of 1944-45 for the recapture and liberation of the entire Philippine Archipelago and to end almost three years of Japanese occupation.

The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War. The 82-day battle lasted from early April until mid-June, 1945.

The battle has been referred to as the "Typhoon of Steel" in English, and tetsu no ame ("rain of steel") or tetsu no bōfū ("violent wind of steel") in Japanese. The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of gunfire involved, and to the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle resulted in one of the highest number of casualties of any World War II engagement. Japan lost over 100,000 troops, and the Allies suffered more than 50,000 casualties. Simultaneously, more than 100,000 civilians (12,000 in action) were killed, wounded, or committed suicide. Approximately one-quarter of the civilian population died due to the invasion.

Five divisions of the U.S. Tenth Army, the 7th, 27th, 77th, 81st, and 96th, and two Marine Divisions, the 1st and 6th, fought on the island while the 2nd Marine Division remained as an amphibious reserve and was never brought ashore. The invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces.

The main objective of the operation was to seize and secure a large island only 340 miles away from mainland Japan. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland, coded Operation Downfall. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Soviet entry into the war caused Japan to surrender just weeks after the end of the fighting at Okinawa.

The 96th Infantry Division received a Presidential Unit Citation for its heroic actions during the Battle of Okinawa. As a result, the 96th Infantry Division is one of only four entire Army Divisions awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for heroic action during World War II.

Major General Bradley retired from the Army in 1947.

Personal

James L. Bradley married Pauline Clarkson of San Antonio, TX, on 6 December 1916 in Del Rio, TX. James and Pauline had only one daughter, Mildred C. Bradley Walter. Pauline preceded James in death on 28 September 1949, in San Mateo, CA.

Death and Burial

Major General James Lester Bradley died of drowning in a swimming pool at his daughter's home in Lafayette, CA, on 30 July 1957. He had been under treatment for a heart ailment. His daughter, Mildred, found him in the pool and is his only survivor.

He is buried at San Francisco National Cemetery in San Francisco, CA

MG James Lester Bradley

From: https://militaryhallofhonor.com/honoree-record.php?id=3263

Brigadier General Claudius Easley

Claudius Miller ("Speck") Easley was born at Thorp Spring, Texas, on July 11, 1891, the eldest son of Claudia Miller and Alexander Campbell Easley. At the age of four he moved with his family to Waco, Texas, where he grew up and was graduated from Waco High School in 1911. While in high school he enlisted in the Texas National Guard and began a career in rifle-marksmanship by competing in the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, in 1910. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on his 21st birthday.

He worked his way through the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas and was graduated in 1916 with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering.

Upon graduation he went at once into active service with the Texas National Guard on the Mexican border until he was commissioned in the Regular Army in 1917. It was while serving on the border that he met his future wife, Inez Wickline of Woodville, Texas. They were married in 1917 in Kansas City, Missouri, and had one son, Claudius M. Easley, Jr.

Inez Wickline Easley was born at Village Mills, Texas on November 14, 1895, the younger daughter of Annie Vilular Collier and Henry Hutchinson Wickline. Soon after her birth her family moved to nearby Woodville where she grew up, was graduated from Tyler County High School, earned her State Teaching Certificate, and taught in the high school. She also worked in her father’s bank.

Between World Wars I and II, General Easley was a member of the first Basic Class of the newly established Infantry School in 1919 and, over the years, also was graduated from the Advanced Course of the Infantry School, the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College. He served with the 37th U.S. Infantry Regiment on the Mexican border and at Fort Wayne, Michigan, the 31st in Manila, Philippine Islands, the 4th at Fort George Wright, Washington, and the 30th at the Presidio of San Francisco, California. He was an instructor in the Weapons Section of the Infantry School 1930-1934, commander of the Los Angeles District of the Civilian Conservation Corps 1936-1938, and captain of the Infantry Rifle and Pistol Teams in 1937, ‘38, and ‘39. He had one tour of duty on the War Department General Staff 1940-1942.

Soon after the United States’ entry into World War II, General Easley took command of the 325th Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Infantry Division. He left that unit to become the Assistant Division Commander of the 96th Infantry Division at the time of its activation in August 1942, at Camp Adair, Oregon. The division gained the connotation of the "Deadeyes" because of the high level of marksmanship it achieved through the training directed by General Easley. Meanwhile, Mrs. Easley was contributing many hours per week as a Red Cross volunteer and in canteens where she helped with refreshments and played the piano for songfests. General Easley went overseas to the Pacific Theater of Operations with the division in the summer of 1944, and Mrs. Easley returned to her permanent residence in Washington, D.C.

"For Exceptionally meritorious conduct" General Easley was awarded the Legion of Merit at the close of the Leyte campaign during which he had been wounded by sniper fire and awarded the Purple Heart. On May 8, 1945, he was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action on Okinawa Island. On June 19, 1945, he was killed in action while directing fire on the last enemy positions on the island. Reburial services were held in Arlington National Cemetery on February 23, 1949.

On April 21, 1946, his college awarded General Easley, posthumously, the degree of Doctor of Laws. Mrs. Easley went to College Station to receive the degree which was presented by General of the Army Eisenhower.

On March 26, 1951, the Infantry School named EASLEY RANGE in honor of General Easley’s contributions to the development and improvement of small arms marksmanship.

Inez Easley died on June 24, 1979, in Washington, D.C., and was laid to rest beside her husband.

NOTE: The General's son, Claudius Miller Easley, Jr., Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on 29 December 2006.

EASLEY, CLAUDIUS M
BRIG GEN AGF USA
BURIED AT: SECTION 2 SITE 311 E H
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/cmeasley.htm