MUSKINGUM, OH, USA U.S. Marines SGT, A CO, (-) 4TH AA BN, (RCT-2, 2D MAR DIV), 4TH MAR DIV, NORFOLK, VA BARWANAH, IRAQ 08/03/2005
Sergeant Bradley J. Harper’s hometown was Dresden, Ohio. He studied criminal justice at Ohio University and then moved to Virginia Beach to become a police officer in 2004. At the police academy he was definitely a leader. He always performed to the utmost at the training academy and he did the same kind of job on the streets. He was a stellar candidate for the 750-member department, and he showed himself to be an even better recruit. Bradley was a guy who could handle anything and was often asked to work with recruits who were struggling.
In January 2005, Bradley was called to duty as a Marine Corps reservist and assigned to the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, 4th Marine Division in Norfolk, Virginia. He was deployed to Iraq and was one of 14 Marines killed in a roadside bombing outside the town of Haditha. Bradley died on August 3, 2005. In a statement by the Virginia Beach Police Chief, Bradley was “a patriot and a hero who chose to put his life on the line in defense of our rights and freedoms both on the streets of our city and in Iraq.”
He is survived by his wife Kendra, who called her husband “a real hero.” She said that he was proud to be a Marine and considered himself honored to be a Virginia Beach police officer. “He gave 100% in whatever assignment he undertook,” she said.