Winter 2026 Militaria & Collectibles Auction
Lot 408:
Description
WWII General Omar Bradley 1967 Signed Letters (TSL). Lot of (2). Signed letters to Chester B. Hansen, Overseas Press Club 25th Anniversary notice, copy of letter to Mrs. Bradley and Omar Bradley typed remarks to the Northern African Correspondents Reunion Overseas Press Club. From the internet: Chester B. Hansen, was a wartime aide to General Omar N. Bradley and one of the few insiders privy to much of what went on in the high command of World War II in Europe. Hansen sailed with Gen. Bradley aboard the cruiser Augusta on the Normandy invasion in June 1944. When the landing on Omaha Beach ran into heavy German resistance, Hansen, then a 27-year-old major, went ashore twice with others to report on the situation. As commander of the First U.S. Army, Gen. Bradley led the American forces in that assault. Mr. Hansen kept a 250,000-word personal diary as he served with Gen. Bradley in campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, France, Luxembourg and Germany, and in the planning of the D-Day invasion while stationed in Britain. During that time, the general rose from corps to army commander, and finally commander of the 12th Army Group. As group commander, Gen. Bradley exercised command over four field armies, including Gen. George Patton’s famed Third. With its 45 divisions of 1.3 million troops, the army group was the largest force ever to take the field under a single American commander. Hansen used his diary for anecdotal material as he collaborated with Gen. Bradley in the writing of the latter’s best-seller wartime memoirs, "A Soldier’s Story, " published in 1951. Hansen continued to serve with Gen. Bradley after the war as Gen. Bradley was appointed by President Truman to reorganize the Veterans Administration to serve 12 million demobilized men and women by administering the GI Bill, overhauling its system of medical care and starting construction of a nationwide network of hospitals. Hansen went to the Pentagon with Gen. Bradley when the general was named Army Chief of Staff to succeed General Eisenhower in 1947, and then became the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1949. Bradley was the ninth and last of the U.S. five star officers.
Condition: See description for notes on condition. Please note that all items are sold as is without returns, so please ask questions in advance of bidding.
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