Omar Bradley & Veterans Day

As the ground war in Europe was coming to a close, Omar Bradley tried to get a transfer over to the Pacific to take part in what at that point looked it was going to be a hell of a battle.

Douglas MacArthur made it clear he didn't want him - or Patton, for that matter.

Why? Basically because MacArthur didn't want anyone else stealing the glory.

Bradley seemed destined to take over Eisenhower's job - at least he seems to have thought that's where he was going - but instead, he got a call from President Harry Truman.

The Veterans Administration had been wracked by scandal, and though reforms were already underway, Truman needed someone of stature to make them stick - and, more importantly, to give the organization a much needed pr boost. Omar Bradley - who by the time had earned the nickname of "GI General" - was perfect.

Or so Truman thought. Bradley had other ideas. One was the fact that the job was an administrative position, and he didn't want it. Another was that it wasn't exactly a clear shot from there to head of the Army, which was the job he really wanted. Nor do I think it was lost on Bradley that the position was primarily a political one, and politics were not his long suit.

But Bradley was a soldier, and when your commander asks you to do something, you do it.

He did obtain a promise that the job wouldn't interfere with his future, and in fact Bradley did end up becoming head of the Army, and then the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff.

Truman's appointment actually worked out very well.  Given the huge number of returning veterans and the programs they were eligible for - VA loans, education, the hospitals - this was an incredibly important job at the time. The VA shaped up tremendously. It's not clear exactly how much credit should go to Bradley, who was there for less than two years, and came in after changes were already underway. But it is clear that he tackled the job with his usual efficiency, and he was certainly more than a figurehead.

He also did something that was fairly uncharacteristic, at least to that point - he started going around the country giving speeches to business groups, asking them to hire veterans for jobs.The pitch was usually along the lines of: These men survived battle; they can handle anything the business world throws at them.

Not a bad thought, actually. In fact, one that's still true today.