James Bradley
John Bradley (1923 - 1994) - John Bradley was born
in Antigo, Wisconsin, but his family moved to Appleton when he was a youngster.
At an early age, he developed an interest in the funeral business and intended to make it his life's work.
After graduating from AHS, he began his training to become a funeral director, but World War II was almost
certainly going to interrupt those plans. Trench warfare memories of WW I among older Americans
pushed many young men to enlist in order to have their service-area preference honored. Bradley joined the Navy,
but his civilian training resulted in his being selected to become a medic. He was serving in that capacity
during the landing on Iwo Jima.
The picture of the reenactment of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi brought fame to the six men involved, but
it was fame Bradley neither desired nor felt was deserved. After the war, he bought a funeral home in
Antigo and shunned any publicity related to the flag raising.
John Bradley memorial
on the AHS campus
near the entrance to the auditorium.
James Bradley grew up seeing his father routinely
refuse interview requests, including ones to speak in the Antigo schools about his service. He emphasized to his
children that the heroes were the ones who didn't come home and he was only doing his job.
Like many children, James only really became interested in his father's service after John's death. This led to
his writing the book about what he discovered.
Flags of our Fathers - James Bradley was born in 1954. He published �Flags of
our Fathers� in 2000. While Appleton is certainly not the book's focus, the early parts discuss many aspects
of the city that a Class of '62 graduate would recognize.
Bradley has a reputation for being a thorough researcher. While his writing certainly sounds like that of a
historian, his attention to detail makes the situations vivid for the reader. It is a book that I
greatly appreciated. Apparently many others did as well as it was on the "New York Times" "best seller" list for
almost a year. The parts about Appleton? They are just a bonus.