Looking at the framed collection of medals and ribbons hanging on Martin Bradley's living room wall in his home on Rock Creek Drive in Yardley, one would think that the 73-year-old Vietnam veteran had a particularly lengthy military career. Decorated and dedicated, Bradley did serve in the US Marine Corps for nearly 20 years. But one cold December night in 1969 changed his life forever.

Bradley was stationed at the Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC) in Memphis, TN at the height of his tenure as Chief Warrant Officer (CW-02). At the time, he was also moonlighting as a military prosecutor and was about to head off to a six-week naval justice course in Newport, RI. That plan was thwarted when Bradley, while driving home from work late at night on a back road, struck a 4-inch by 4-inch wooden property marker and flipped his VW Karmann Ghia.

“It hit all five sides,” says Bradley, wincing at the memory. “Somehow or another, I undid the seatbelt and slid myself out of the car. When the highway patrolman found me, I was side-by-side with it. The next thing I remember is the patrolman saying, 'ah, this one's gone.'”


Bradley was taken to the sick bay of Tennessee's naval hospital where, with no pulse or respiration, he was treated as a deep shock patient. Thanks to a determined team of doctors and corpsmen, he was revived. After successfully undergoing a potentially paralyzing surgery for a blood clot, he then spent eight months recuperating from lower back injuries and five pelvic fractures. He was eventually released from the hospital in August 1970.

“It was so many years ago and I still remember it,” Bradley says. “I'll tell you – those corpsman are the greatest bunch of people you'll ever want to meet.”

Prior to the accident, Bradley had been building an impressive resume with the armed forces. A native of Shamokin, PA and the eldest of six children, he enlisted with the Marines a year after graduating from Philadelphia's Northeast Catholic High School in 1953. He trained at South Carolina's Parris Island, served for six months in post-war Korea in 1955, then another six in Japan as an aircraft electrician. By the time he landed at California's Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in 1958 (where he'd remain for the next six years), Bradley had already completed a stint at a base in Edenton, NC and a 28-week electrician course in Jacksonville, FL.

During his time at El Toro, Bradley worked in a 400-man photo reconnaissance squadron, the west coast equivalent to the eastern outfit that took aircraft surveillance photos during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1957, he made Sergeant. In 1963, he made Staff Sergeant. By 1966, when he headed to Vietnam for a 13-month tour of duty, Bradley had been promoted to Warrant Officer. It was there, in the heart of Southeast Asia, that Bradley experienced the most intense time of his life up to that point.

“I was trying to stay alive,” he says. “We had to deal with rocket attacks from the hills. ...You talk about fear and try to figure out what fear's all about. I think there are two levels of fear: one fear that paralyzes you and that other fear that comes the instant you know you're gonna be in a fight and you realize you'd better get the first punch in. That's what we dealt with. It's not something you want to do...but when you go, you know you've been trained well and you know you're equipped to do what you have to.”

Such bravery may very well have been what ultimately pulled Bradley through his next life-threatening ordeal, which occurred less than two years later. When finally discharged from physical therapy after his harrowing auto accident, he was put before the Marine Corps' medical review board and given their quarterly physical readiness test. Due to his injuries, he was unable to complete certain tasks - such as running three miles under 25 minutes - and was medically retired in March 1971.

So began a new chapter in Bradley's life. He returned home to the Delaware Valley and went back to school. In just two and a half years, he obtained a degree in accounting from La Salle University. It was 1974 – exactly 20 years after he had originally enlisted with the military. From there, he went on to work as a finance and accounting officer with the Army Corps of Engineers and the General Services Administration in Philadelphia.

Today, Bradley has been happily retired for 13 years and lives with his wife, Rosemary, in Yardley, where they've been since the early '80s. He's a father to Laura, Adrienne, Martin, and Steven; and a grandfather to Jason, Tyler, Matthew, Erin, Colin, James, and Brad. He works part-time as a financial reviewer for his nephew's graphics business, is the technology coordinator for the Lower Bucks division of an IRS and AARP-supported tax program for senior citizens, and the local coordinator for the Middletown Senior Center during tax season. For leisure, he enjoys exercise and golf.

Amidst that busy schedule, Bradley still takes time to reflect upon the fateful crash 40 years ago that, he says, gave him a new lease on life.

“Something like that makes you aware of things that you may not have thought about before,” he says. “It makes you think about what you have and what you care about.”