Navy Federal Credit Union

John Bradley is best-known as one of the men who raised the flag over Mt. Suribachi in the famous Rosenthal photograph also depicted in the Marine Corps Memorial. Not until after his death did his family become aware of the fact that he also received the Navy Cross for an earlier action on Iwo Jima.

Awards Received

  • Navy Cross

    Service:

    United States Navy

    Rank:

    Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class

    Batallion:

    2d Battalion

    Regiment:

    28th Marines

    Division:

    5th Marine Division

    Action Date:

    February 21, 1944

    Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force Pacific: Serial 0562 (September 11, 1947)

    The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class John Henry Bradley (NSN: 8681681), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and conspicuous devotion to duty while serving as a Corpsman attached to a Marine Rifle platoon of the Second Battalion, Twenty-Eighth Marines, FIFTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces at Iwo Jima, on 21 February 1945. During a furious assault by his company upon a strongly defended enemy zone at the base of Mt. Suribachi, Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class Bradley observed a Marine infantryman fall wounded in an open area under a pounding barrage by mortars, interlaced with a merciless crossfire from Machine guns. With complete disregard for his own safety, he ran through the intense fire to the side of the fallen Marine, examined his wounds and ascertained that an immediate administration of plasma was necessary to save the man’s life. Unwilling to subject any of his comrades to the danger to which he had so valiantly exposed himself, he signaled would-be assistants to remain where they were. Placing himself in a position to shield the wounded man, he tied a plasma unit to a rifle planted upright in the sand and continued his life saving mission. The Marine’s wounds bandaged and the condition of shock relieved by plasma, Bradley pulled the man thirty yards through intense enemy fire to a position of safety. His indomitable spirit, dauntless initiative, and heroic devotion to duty were an inspiration to those with who he served and were in keeping with the highest tradition of the United States Naval Service.