[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 25 (Thursday, February 25, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E251]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TRIBUTE TO THE LATE GENERAL OMAR NELSON BRADLEY

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                        HON. BLAINE LUETKEMEYER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 25, 2010

  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the late 
General Omar Nelson Bradley, hero of World War II, America's last 
surviving five-star General, first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff, and a proud son of Randolph County in the heart of Missouri's 
9th Congressional District. It will be my honor and privilege to 
participate in the celebration and observance of ``General Omar Bradley 
Day'' in Moberly, Missouri on Friday, February 12, 2010, the General's 
birthday. An event to commemorate Moberly's favorite son will be held 
at the Moberly High School and a reproduction of the portrait of 
General Bradley, which is in the Bradley corridor at the Pentagon in 
Washington, D.C., will be unveiled and will hang in the foyer of the 
Moberly High School auditorium, on the south end of the school campus.
  I would like to recognize the members of the General Omar Nelson 
Bradley Library and Museum Committee for arranging Friday's celebration 
and for their tireless efforts to promote awareness of General 
Bradley's special connection to Moberly. The members of the committee 
are Chair Sam Richardson, City Councilman Dick Boots, City Manager Andy 
Morris, Russ Freed, Wayne Wilcox, Joe Knaebel, Howard Hils, and Mary 
Lee Noel.
  I would also like to enter an excerpt from the following article, 
``General Bradley Day Here Friday'' into the Congressional Record. This 
item appeared in the Monday, February 8, 2010 edition of the Moberly 
Monitor-Index.

                    General Bradley Day Here Friday

       General of the Armies Bradley was born in rural Randolph 
     County near Clark, on February 12, 1893. He moved to Moberly 
     at age nine and graduated from Moberly High School in 1911. 
     As Moberly High School's most distinguished alum, General 
     Bradley went on to become a member of the United States 
     Military Academy class in 1915 and was one of its most 
     outstanding scholars, as well as a football and baseball 
     star.
       He commanded the largest American army ever assembled, 
     during the invasion of Europe in 1944, led the Veterans 
     Administration after World War II, was named Army chief of 
     staff in 1948 and in 1949 was promoted by President Harry 
     Truman to first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He 
     served two terms as chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Bradley was 
     the youngest and last of nine American military officers to 
     earn the coveted fifth star.
       After retirement from active duty, General Bradley was 
     chairman and chief executive officer for the Bulova Watch 
     Corp. Under his leadership, Bulova developed the Accutron 
     watch, which was first developed for America's military and 
     fledgling space program.
       Bradley died in New York City on April 8, 1981. He had 
     participated in the inauguration of his friend, President 
     Ronald W. Reagan, in Washington in late January 1981. Among 
     those at his state funeral at Arlington National Cemetery was 
     longtime friend and internationally acclaimed comedian Bob 
     Hope. An avid golfer and fan of horse racing, and lifetime 
     fan of baseball and college football, Bradley lived his final 
     years in special quarters built for him at Fort Bliss, near 
     El Paso, Texas. Both the Sun Bowl at El Paso and the 
     Independence Bowl at Shreveport honored Gen. Bradley during 
     his lifetime and in the years since his death.
       The event at Moberly High School Friday is sponsored by the 
     General Omar Nelson Bradley Library and Museum Committee, a 
     citizen panel organized by the Moberly City Council last year 
     to bring recognition to the community's favorite son.
       In an October 1966 letter to former Moberly Mayor Will Ben 
     Sims, General Bradley--a man known for his humility and 
     modesty--wrote that he accepted the fact he was Moberly's 
     ``favorite son'' and that he and Mrs. Kitty Bradley viewed 
     Moberly as their most favorite city in the whole world.
       He was an honorary member of the Moberly Country Club and 
     Moberly Rotary Club and longtime member of the Central 
     Christian Church, where he grew up.

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