Ruby Bradley
{{Short description|American Army officer (1907–2002)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Ruby Bradley
| image = Colonel Ruby G. Bradley, US Army Nurse Corps.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Bradley as the Director, Nursing Activities, Brooke Army Medical Center
| nickname =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1907|12|19}}
| birth_place = Spencer, West Virginia, United States
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2002|05|28|1907|12|19}}
| death_place = Hazard, Kentucky, United States
| placeofburial = Arlington National Cemetery
| allegiance = United States
| branch = United States Army
| serviceyears = 1934–1963
| rank = Colonel
| servicenumber =
| unit = Nurse Corps
| commands =
| battles = World War II
Korean War
| awards = Legion of Merit (2)
Bronze Star Medal (2)
Army Commendation Medal (2)
Florence Nightingale Medal
| spouse =
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
Colonel Ruby Bradley (19 December 1907 – 28 May 2002) was a United States Army Nurse Corps officer, a prisoner of the Japanese in World War II, and one of the most decorated women in the United States military.{{cite web| title = Ruby G. Bradley, Colonel, U.S. Army Nurse Corps Director, Nursing activities, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas| publisher = U.S. Army Office of Medical History| date = 2009-07-07| url = http://history.amedd.army.mil/ancwebsite/bradley/bradley.html| format = web| doi = | accessdate = 6 August 2010| archive-date = 8 November 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171108093816/http://history.amedd.army.mil/ancwebsite/bradley/bradley.html| url-status = dead}} She was a native of Spencer, West Virginia, but lived in Falls Church, Virginia, for over 50 years.
Military career
Bradley entered the United States Army Nurse Corps as a surgical nurse in 1934. She was serving at Camp John Hay in the Philippines when she was captured by the Japanese army three weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.{{fact|date=May 2025}}
In 1943, Bradley was moved to the Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila. It was there that she and several other imprisoned nurses earned the title "Angels in Fatigues" from fellow captives. For the next several months, she provided medical help to the prisoners and sought to feed starving children by shoving food into her pockets whenever she could, often going hungry herself. As she lost weight, she used the room in her uniform for smuggling surgical equipment into the prisoner-of-war camp. At the camp she assisted in 230 operations and helped to deliver 13 children.{{fact|date=May 2025}}
When United States troops captured the camp on 3 February 1945, Bradley weighed only {{convert|86|lb|kg|0}}. She was then returned to the United States where she continued her career in the army. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California in 1949.{{fact|date=May 2025}}
Bradley served in the Korean War as Chief Nurse for the 171st Evacuation Hospital. In November 1950, during the Chinese counter-offensive, she refused to leave until she had loaded the sick and wounded onto a plane in Pyongyang while surrounded by 100,000 advancing Chinese soldiers. She was able to jump aboard the plane just as her ambulance exploded from an enemy shell. In 1951, she was named Chief Nurse for the Eighth Army, where she supervised over 500 Army nurses throughout Korea.{{cite news|last1=McLellan|first1=Dennis|title=Ruby Bradley, 94; Army Nurse Was 'Angel in Fatigues' for POWs|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-02-me-bradley2-story.html|access-date=24 October 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|date=2 June 2002}}
Bradley was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1958 and retired from the army in 1963
Later life and Death
After her retirement in 1963, she continued to work for 17 years as a civilian nurse supervisor in Roane County, West Virginia. where she also bought a ranch near her family.{{Cite web |last=Rhodes |first=Catherine |date=2019-04-29 |title=Col. Ruby Bradley (1907-2002), Army Nurse and Angel of Bataan POW |url=https://www.workingnurse.com/articles/col-ruby-bradley-u-s-army-nurse-1907-2002/ |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=Working Nurse |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=e-WV {{!}} Ruby Bradley |url=https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/639 |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=www.wvencyclopedia.org}}{{Cite book |last=Bullough |first=Vern L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KDWiFMNlOfIC&dq=ruby+bradley&pg=PA26 |title=American Nursing: A Biographical Dictionary: Volume 3 |date=2004 |publisher=Springer Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-8261-1147-0 |language=en}}
Bradley was the subject of a 23 February 2000 NBC Nightly News report by Tom Brokaw about the forgotten heroes of the military.
Bradley died at the age of 94 due to natural causes and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.{{Cite web |last=McLELLAN |first=DENNIS |date=2002-06-02 |title=Ruby Bradley, 94; Army Nurse Was 'Angel in Fatigues' for POWs |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-02-me-bradley2-story.html |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}
Legacy
After her death in 2002 Bradley was also the recipient of a memorial resolution, drafted by Congressman Joe Baca of California, regarding her exemplary service to this nation.
Awards
Bradley's military record included 19 separate decorations, medals and ribbons. These included:{{cite book|last1=Norman|first1=Elizabeth M.|title=We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese|date=1999|publisher=Simon and Schuster|location=New York|isbn=9780671787189|page=317}}
- Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
- Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster
- Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
- Prisoner of War Medal
- Presidential Unit Citation with oak leaf cluster
- Meritorious Unit Commendation
- American Defense Service Medal with "Foreign Service" clasp
- American Campaign Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two campaign stars
- World War II Victory Medal
- Army of Occupation Medal with "Japan" clasp
- National Defense Service Medal with star
- Korean Service Medal with three campaign stars
- Philippine Defense Medal (Republic of Philippines) with star
- Philippine Liberation Medal (Republic of Philippines) with star
- Philippine Independence Medal (Republic of Philippines)
- United Nations Service Medal
- Korean War Service Medal (Republic of Korea)
- Florence Nightingale Medal (International Red Cross)
Dates of rank
- 2nd Lieutenant (relative rank) – 16 October 1934{{cite web |title=Col Ruby Grace Bradley |url=http://history.amedd.army.mil/ancwebsite/bradley/bradleyres.html |website=history.amedd.army.mil |publisher=US Army Medical Department |accessdate=24 October 2014 |archive-date=25 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025010025/http://history.amedd.army.mil/ancwebsite/bradley/bradleyres.html |url-status=dead }}
- 1st Lieutenant (AUS) – 18 February 1945
- Captain (AUS) – 27 October 1945
- Captain (RA) – 19 August 1947 (to rank from 19 December 1942)
- Major (RA) – 15 May 1950
- Lieutenant Colonel (RA) – 23 July 1952
- Colonel (RA) – 4 March 1958
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite news|last1=McLellan|first1=Dennis|title=Ruby Bradley, 94; Army Nurse Was 'Angel in Fatigues' for POWs|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-02-me-bradley2-story.html|access-date=24 October 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|date=2 June 2002}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Ruby}}
Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Japan
Category:United States Army personnel of the Korean War
Category:United States Army colonels
Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit
Category:American prisoners of war in World War II
Category:United States Army Nurse Corps officers
Category:Female United States Army nurses in World War II
Category:People from Spencer, West Virginia
Category:People from Falls Church, Virginia
Category:Military personnel from Fairfax County, Virginia
Category:Florence Nightingale Medal recipients