Portrait by Clarence Lamont MacNelly, courtesy US Army
A northern Missouri community plans to hold a ceremony Monday morning to honor their town’s favorite son, who was America’s last five-star general.
General Omar Bradley, who was born in 1893, grew up poor in northern Missouri’s Randolph County. He graduated from Moberly High School in 1910.
Bradley commanded the First U.S. Army during the Normandy invasion in World War II and was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was also a senior military commander during the Korean War.
General Bradley was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians at the state Capitol in Jefferson City in 1992.
The Missouri House website says by the end of World War II, Bradley was the field commander of the largest American force in history.
Bradley also served as the Veterans Affairs Administrator from 1946 to 1948 and was the first chairman of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Bradley was known as the “The G.I. General”, because of his popularity with enlisted service members.
Monday would have been Bradley’s 125th birthday.
Moberly civic leader Sam Richardson says U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, and members of the community will gather Monday morning at 11 at the downtown Moberly library to dedicate a new museum in Bradley’s honor. Moberly is in Hartzler’s district, and she serves on the House Armed Services Committee.
Richardson says the museum is part of a $200,000 renovation of the 1903 landmark library.
Richardson tells Missourinet that there will also be a catered luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Monday at Central Christian Church. Bradley was a member of the church and a patron of the library. Richardson says Randolph County Presiding Commissioner John Truesdell and Moberly School Superintendent Dr. Matt Miller will also speak at the luncheon.
Bradley died in 1981 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
In addition to the sculpture at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City, there’s also a large statue in honor of General Bradley in Moberly’s Rothwell Park.