John Bradley was born in Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Philippines] in May 1936. Bradley's father enlisted in the Army and was stationed in the Philippines. After he retired from his military service, his family decided to remain in Manila because his father went into business for the Pacific Commercial Company in the advertising department. His mother went into the millinery business and made hats for the high society women of Manila. She worked with a semi-legend in town, named Louise Dodge [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling]. She later became an editor in a society newspaper until Bradley was born. She became a full-time mother after that. Although his mother was a very outgoing and adventurous woman, she devoted her life to Bradley's childhood. His earliest memories of his mother always being close by, while his father would go to work and come home in the evening. She took him to town a lot to go shopping and eat ice cream. He does not recall playing with other children except for birthday parties. Most of the kids he did know in Manila, also grew up in a single child household. He did not meet any of his extended family until after World War 2. As an only child, he often wandered around his big yard for entertainment. One time, his parents bought him ducks, so he used to watch them during the day. He also watched the servants smoke and clean clothes. He would help his parents with gardening or washing the car. Bradley had a nanny. He often played music on a gramophone. His parents listened to the radio in the evenings. On rainy days, he played underneath the house.

John Bradley [Annotator's Note: born in Manila, Philippines to an American father and Australian mother in 1936] would get bored as a child. His father gave him a hammer as a gift. One day Bradley found a case and began driving nails into it until he heard a pop sound. He liked the sound, so he kept doing it. Later he found out that it was a case of beer. His father was not happy. His father was a good carpenter and often remodeled parts of the house. His dad hurt his knee with a chisel, and he was driven around by a chauffeur for about a week. Bradley was so excited to have a chauffeur because all his other neighbors had chauffeurs. Bradley did not feel lonely as an only child. His father built him a screened bed with a lid because they did not have screen windows in his bedroom. When it rained, they would close the shutters. The women always dressed nice, especially for social events. His father changed a couple of times a day because he would sweat so much. He lived near different ethnic families, including Filipinos and retired military families. They lived near the cigar factory and his school. His parents would get annoyed by some of their Filipino neighbors because they would play music very loudly. Bradley went to a woman's house for school. She had a couple of classrooms attached to her house. Because he was so young, he did not know where a lot of things were but was taken all over the city, including the high commissioner's house, the department store, and other shops along the main street. A few buildings had air conditioning which was a big deal. As a young child, Bradley had a fascination for cars. His father bought a car, brought it home, took it apart and put it all back together again in a weekend. There were not any good beach spots near the bay because Manila had a breakwater due to bad storm surges during typhoon seasons. Bradley took a trip to Baguio [Annotator's Note: Baguio, Philippines] with his parents and stayed in a hotel. He ran up and down the hallway with other kids that were there as well. He enjoyed the change in weather from Manila.

John Bradley [Annotator's Note: born in Manila, Philippines to an American father and Australian mother in 1936] wonders what would have occurred if war had not come. He believes that his parents would have never left the Philippines. His father came from a poor farming family from Indiana and coming to the Philippines gave him better opportunities and improved his life significantly. He knew that his mother had no intention to returning to Australia. She appropriated American customs because she did not like the closed society that she was brought up in. The house he lived in growing up would have stunned his father's family because it was so large. Both of his parents were comfortable and happy in the Philippines. They did not have a chauffeur, but they had a cook, a house maid, a laundry maid, and a nanny. There were several military clubs, and other entertainment spots like fancy hotels, and the Elk Club [Annotator's Note: Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE), American fraternal order]. Adults often went to a Jai alai club [Annotator's Note: a ball-playing sport] and watched the games. His parents had a great social life before World War 2. They had friends from America, Australia, Britain, and the Philippines. They were not fond of Germans. He did not have Filipino friends until after the war but was friendly with his Filipino servants. His mother worked for two Filipino men, and his father had Filipino mechanics. Bradley had more contact with the Filipinos after the war than before the war. His father had died, and therefore their income was limited. He often went to the Filipino theaters because they were cheaper than the theaters that Americans tended to go to. He went to the movies weekly. He also rode packed buses, while most of his friends had chauffeurs. When he moved to America, he never understood its racial tensions because he was so used to interacting with people of all races and ethnicities.

John Bradley [Annotator's Note: born in Manila, Philippines to an American father and Australian mother in 1936] cannot remember if his parents were aware of the Japanese hostilities that were rising against the United States. His mother's brother tried to get them to move back to Australia, but she had no concerns. Bradley does not remember Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. His first memory of World War 2 was when his parents told him that they must leave their home. The owner of the house was a Filipino and he did not want Americans in his house when the Japanese arrived. Bradley wonders now whether he was a collaborator with the Japanese or just feared them. He stood in front of the house for the last time right before Christmas 1941 [Annotator's Note: December 1941]. He could see Japanese aircraft bombing the harbor. The Bradley family moved to their new house just prior to the Japanese arrival at Luzon [Annotator's Note: Luzon, Philippines] on 22 December 1941. After Christmas, his father built an air raid shelter. Bradley would climb on top of the sandbags and played on top of the air raid shelter. One day, his father had some men over and they were looking at gas masks. They frequently had visitors that stayed over for several days. He learned later that they were refugees. Bradley was often bumped from his room and had to sleep elsewhere. One day, he saw Japanese soldiers outside of his fence. They looked small. Bradley was naïve to what was going on at the time. He did not realize that people were being killed and a war was going on. His parents told him that they had to leave their home for a few days, so the following morning they were trucked to a large stadium that held hundreds of people. Bradley ran all over because he had nothing else to do. It was very hot and sunny. Later that day, he and his mother were put into a car and sent to Santo Tomas [Annotator's Note: Santo Tomas Internment Camp, or, Manila Internment Camp, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines] sometime in the late afternoon. They were assigned a room and slept on the floor until they were given cots and mosquito netting. He was later reassigned to a room full of young boys down the hall in an annex and his mother was assigned to a room a few doors down. They stayed with this room assignment until the Japanese allowed families to build shanties in the last year of being at the camp. There were lots of rules that often changed as the war progressed because they became overcrowded with prisoners. As the camp became overcrowded, there was a lot of tension and hostility between people. There was a good number of single women or women without their husbands and there were a lot of single men. His mother did not like one lady in particular because she refused to share any of her bedding. Bradley befriended a boy named Mike Doolan. They became very good friends. He also met many other kids that he would not have otherwise. They ran all over the place without adult supervision.

For food, John Bradley and the internees [Annotator's Note: in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp, or, Manila Internment Camp, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines] had to wait in a mess line outside the cafeteria. He cannot recall what was served to him and if he liked it or not. He did, however, learn how to eat standing up. The food worsened as the war progressed. They received a mush with an occasional piece of meat. By the end of the war, everyone had lost weight. There was a playground with swings that he often played on. The kids would often get into mud fights. A bunch of boys came up with the idea to trap pigeons. There were no organized sports that he knew of, but shooting marbles became popular. School started almost immediately when he arrived at Santo Tomas. His first teacher was a Scottish woman that his family knew before entering the internment camp. Bradley feared her greatly and begged his parents to change teachers. They finally allowed him to get switch to a different teacher, and he liked the new teacher. The following year, his teacher taught him about Greek and Roman mythology. He became very fascinated with the subject. His class eventually moved to the top floor of the main building. They began to do science experiments, which he enjoyed very much. The Japanese would not allow the school to teach them history or geography. After the war, he lived in Australia for some time and attended school. He was demoted back to third grade but soon caught up and was replaced to his normal level. The schools in the camps taught him very well considering their circumstances.

John Bradley [Annotator's Note: an internee in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp, or, Manila Internment Camp, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines] was in the hospital for a while but does not recall why. He received a shot but does not remember what it was for. Sometime in 1943, he was placed in the hospital again because he had a fever and was delirious for two or three days. He remained in the hospital for several weeks because he lost his fingernails and toenails, and his skin was peeling. His friends would come and visit and want to peel his skin off him. Both his parents also had health issues while in internment camp. His mother had to be injected with iron supplements. He would go with her and help her by getting her some water. His mom also had to have four teeth pulled. His father also had dental problems and was sent to an outside hospital. He ended up having most of his teeth removed. When his mother had gotten her passport before leaving Australia, she had lied about her age. She made her brothers swear not to tell anyone, so Bradley did not find out the true age of his mother until he was an adult. When they went to a movie, they had to watch a propaganda reel before the movie came on. All the propaganda stories were always about a Japanese victory. Bradley did not have much contact with the Japanese guards. Every now and then he and his friends would run around camp and call them names, but that was the extent of it. During the night of liberation [Annotator's Note: 3 February 1945], the Japanese guards used their rifles to move people into the main building of the compound.

Some of John Bradley's most vivid memories of his time in the internment camp [Annotator's Note: Santo Tomas Internment Camp, or, Manila Internment Camp, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines ]is the Scottish teacher that scared him, his illness that caused him to lose his nails and skin and being carried by his father when he left the hospital. He had pleasant times playing with his friends. His time in camp was not always glum, especially for the children, but the teens and parents probably had a different experience because they were aware of what was going on. Where you lived in the camp, gave you a different experience. Bradley lived in "Shanty town" behind the seminary, between the north wall, west wall, and annex. He played between the annex and the hospital. There were not any limitations of where he could go, but he stayed in certain areas of the camp that he was familiar with. Many of his friends and his parents' friends from before the war were not around in the camp. After the war, he lost total contact with his friends, the Merritts [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling]. On the other hand, his friends, the Doolans [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling], remained close during their internment and postwar.

On the day American forces arrived [Annotator's Note: 3 February 1945 at the Santo Tomas Internment Camp, or, Manila Internment Camp, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines], John Bradley [Annotator's Note: an internee in the camp], his friend John O'Brien [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling], and others were playing in a ditch. They looked up because they heard an airplane. Bradley could see the pilot in the plane because it was flying so low. Rumors began going around camp that the pilot dropped his goggles with a message saying, "Today or tomorrow." Bradley does not know how true that rumor was. That evening as he was getting dressed to go to bed, they heard shouting from the north wall. Later he found out that it was Americans trying to get in the camp. Hours later, huge fires started on the far end of the camp. His father told his mother and Bradley to go to the main building for protection. As they reached the building, they were met by hundreds of people trying to get in as well. As they slowly made their way into the building, they veered right and found some windowsills to sit on. Bradley was very nervous and excited. He needed to go to the bathroom several times. On his last trip to the bathroom, he looked out a window and saw a tank and a tall American soldier maneuvering in his direction. Bradley ran out of the bathroom yelling he saw the Americans. At first, no one was allowed out, but eventually, they opened the main building. As Bradley walked out of the building, he was met by a Sherman tank [Annotator's Note: M4 Sherman medium tank] and tall American soldiers. Everyone milled around for a long time even though it was nighttime. Bradley's father heated up some food for them to eat, thinking that Americans would bring more food the next day. Suddenly they heard a shell whistle through followed by a thud. Bradley made one leap into the bomb shelter. The next morning, he went out back and found a flare shell. The camp internees were, for the most part, very happy. The camp was all secured by the Americans except for the education building where Japanese were still inside with hostages. Two or three days later, the Japanese left. The Americans gave out rations to the internees, and unfortunately, this was the downward spiral for Bradley's father. The food was too rich for his stomach and caused him to have appendicitis [Annotator's Note: inflammation of the appendix]. His father was put in a field hospital after having surgery. The Japanese shelled the field hospital the following night. Bradley's father suffered from shell shock Annotator's Note: psychological disturbance caused by prolonged exposure to active warfare, especially bombardment] and malnutrition and died days later. His father had one day of freedom. Bradley, himself, had stomach issues because his body was not used to eating the rich food. Bradley's mother was greatly affected by his father's death and took years to heal from the trauma. He knew he was going to be liberated they day he saw the tanker and soldiers.

After liberation [Annotator's Note: 3 February 1945 at the Santo Tomas Internment Camp, or, Manila Internment Camp, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines], John Bradley spent time the American soldiers. He looked at the machine guns in the foxholes. His father had died [Annotator's Note: days after liberation] and was buried outside of the walls of the camp. Bradley would sometimes go and visit his father's grave. On one occasion, he convinced a couple of G.I.s [Annotator's Note: government issue; also, a slang term for an American soldier] to take him for a ride in their jeep. The soldiers took them along the main road and to the house that they had occupied. He would talk with the soldiers at the front entrance and convinced one to give him a knife. He also got three .50-caliber rounds, and an airman's helmet as additional souvenirs. He scrounged for all the souvenirs he could get. He also played on top of the canvas where the Americans stored supplies until General Krueger [Annotator's Note: US Army General Walter Kreuger] told him he was not allowed near the supplies. Bradley was pretty much on his own during liberation. Until 15 February [Annotator's Note: 15 February 1945], they were still getting shelled from the Japanese, but there were not too many casualties. Four girls killed when a shell hit the female dormitory. The event did not register with him. He had a similar feeling when he received the news of his father [Annotator's Note: who died after surgery in the camp hospital]. Because Bradley was a child during the World War 2, he did not realize the total aspect of the war and how it was being fought in the Pacific and in Europe. He was focused more locally of what was happening to him and his family. He did not grasp World War 2 until high school. He had no idea about Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler], Eisenhower [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force; 34th President of the United States], Bradley, [Annotator's Note: US Army General Omar Nelson Bradley], or Montgomery [Annotator's Note: British Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery], until after the war.

After liberation [Annotator's Note: 3 February 1945 at the Santo Tomas Internment Camp, or, Manila Internment Camp, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines], John Bradley and his mother moved to Australia because his mother was an Australian. The American military wanted to send Bradley to the United States because he was an American citizen, but his mother contacted the British consulate and made sure Bradley would be going with her. Bradley did not know his extended family in America and did not know how they found out about his father's death and Bradley's whereabouts. The American troops wanted all the internees to leave Manila and sent many of the people back to their homelands. It was a strategic move for FDR [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] and the American military to leave thousands of civilians in the Philippines at the start of World War 2. He compares this decision with the recent decision of the Biden administration [Annotator's Note: Joseph Robinette Biden Junior, 46th President of the United States] leaving American citizens in Afghanistan [Annotator's Note: at the end of the War in Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, 2001 to 2014, Operation Freedom's Sentinel, 2015 to September 2021]. Bradley and his mother remained in Australia from April 1945 to December 1946. They returned to Manila in January 1947 because his mother had to settle his father's estate. He returned to school in the from fifth to eighth grade and then left for America in 1949. His mother had issues with her visa and ended up getting arrested and forced to plead to Congress [Annotator's Note: United States Congress] to stay in America. Eventually she received her citizenship.

John Bradley and his mother moved to the United States in 1949 [Annotator's Note: they were liberated 3 February 1945, from the Santo Tomas Internment Camp, or, Manila Internment Camp, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines]. Bradley decided he wanted to be an Army officer and had a fascination with General MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area]. He decided to apply for West Point [Annotator's Note: United States Military Academy in West Point, New York]. [Annotator's Note: Interviewer pauses interviewee to shut a door because there is a lot of noise in the background 2:45:16.000.] Bradley began to have a fascination for soldiers after he was liberated from the internment camp. When he lived in Manila, he immersed himself in military events like the Army-Navy football. When he moved to the United States, he had decided he wanted to go to West Point and met other who had the same feelings. While he attended high school, he strove to do well to get into military school. He failed his first entrance test into West Point. After taking the exam to more times, he passed. He assimilated into the routine very well because he had already taken ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps]. He enjoyed his classes but had issues with applied engineering class and Russian classes. Bradley graduated in 1958. His second tactical officer was George Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Major General George Smith Patton IV]. He had great respect for Patton.

John Bradley served in the Army infantry and attended jump and Ranger school. He volunteered to join the 101st Airborne Division and was assigned to C company, 501 Regiment [Annotator's Note: Company C, 501st Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division]. In six months, he was selected to be a rifle platoon leader, a weapons platoon leader, and a reconnaissance platoon leader. He was a recon leader for about six months and worked with a platoon sergeant named, Lester Gardner [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling]. He enjoyed his friendship because he had a fun nature. Bradley became an aide to Charles Rockmore [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling, the assistant Division Commander of the 101st Airborne for six months. He learned a lot from him that helped him think strategically. One time they went on maneuvers and when Rockmore got to the top of the hill, he was displeased with the exercises. Rockmore and a lieutenant discussed improvements, then did it again. Bradley had never saw an officer repeat maneuvers like that before. After his time working for Rockmore, he was selected to be the junior aide to the core commander of the division at Fort Bragg [Annotator's Note: Fort Bragg, North Carolina]. He joined General Thomas John Hall Trapnell's [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General Thomas John Hall "Trap" Trapnell] personal staff. This position was not as fulfilling as he expected to be, but the colonel was very kind to him and his new bride, Anne. They became lifelong friends. He then transitioned to the 325 Regiment and became company commander of E Company [Annotator's Note: Company E, 325th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division]. The role was very demanding and short-lived. Bradley was then sent to Korea [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953] to be an XO [Annotator's Note: executive officer] of H Company. He soon became company commander in charge of over 750 manpower in the Cavalry Division [Annotator's Note: unable to identify]. He was promoted to captain. He had a tremendous learning experience. He had issues with cohabitation with prostitutes, black market, alcohol and drug struggles, terrible training, and morale problems. He court-martialed a captain and first lieutenant on cohabitations. He served a court martial to a warrant officer for being drunk in his barracks at nine in the morning. There was a lot of loneliness and homesickness that destroyed many of the soldiers. A first lieutenant committed suicide. A West Point graduate committed suicide after he passed an important exam. A sergeant shot two Korean soldiers, an American soldier, and then committed suicide. Bradley returned to the United States in 1962 after his son was born. [Annotator's Note: Interviewer talks with someone off camera 3:16:00.000.]

John Bradley returned from Korea [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953] and attended jump school for two years and then was sent to Vietnam [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975]. He did nothing in Vietnam and when he returned to America, he attended graduate school. He then taught at West Point [Annotator's Note: United States Military Academy in West Point, New York] for three years and taught military history. He did a couple more deployments and then retired from the military as a light colonel [Annotator's Note: nickname for Lieutenant Colonel] in 1978 and moved to Houston [Annotator's Note: Houston, Texas]. While he was in Vietnam, he was made a district advisor and had no real promotional opportunity. He did have some combat experience and commanded two companies. After one year, he returned to the United States. He was disappointed with the Army's decision to not give him a role in the field because they thought he lacked experience. Bradley had been an internee at Santo Tomas [Annotator's Note: an internee in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp, or, Manila Internment Camp, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines] and tried to meet Douglas MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] when he entered the camp.

John Bradley suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder according to what his wife tells him, due to his experiences in the Santo Tomas internment camp [Annotator's Note: as an internee in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp, or, Manila Internment Camp, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines]. His experience was a driving force for him to join the Army. He does not tolerate anyone who tries to bad mouth the United States. He would not be here today without the U.S. Army. It upsets him when he sees senior Army officers not living up to their potential. Most of the soldiers are splendid people. There are many times in military history when Army men acted brave and did unimaginable things for the sake of their country. It is important for people to understand the complexity of war. Many military superiors have a lot of drive and can be very difficult to work for and can polarizing figures. Many of these leaders like George Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] may have had a certain public image, but was completely different on a personal level.