US Army Private Daniel Bradley was born in Milton, Florida on August 20, 1896, (WWI Registration Card shows 8-2-1895) to unknown parents. We believe that he was a farm laborer in the area and we know he was married to Mrs. Idella R. Bradley who was living in Milton.
Daniel was inducted into the US Army on August 3, 1918 and was assigned to the 13th Training Battalion from August 6, 1918 to August 26 at Camp Devens, Massachusetts. After his basic training was completed in August, he joined Company "D" of the 546th Engineers Service Battalion that was being mustered into service there. From Camp Devens, the battalion was shipped out on September 18 for Camp Humphreys, Virginia. This camp was built on the Potomac River near Mount Vernon in January 1918. By May, it was designated as an engineer replacement and training camp. Daniel and his company were sent to Camp Merritt, New Jersey to await transportation to Europe. When their turn came, they were sent to Hoboken, NJ where they boarded the SS Scotian and sailed to Liverpool, England on September 25, 1918. After their seagoing voyage, the ship pulled into Liverpool on October 7 at 1:30 PM. Sailing aboard that ship were thousands of men crammed into the small, cramped living compartments. This was an ideal environment for the Spanish Influenza virus, which was a highly contagious disease that would ultimately kill up to 50,000,000 people worldwide. Unfortunately, a fellow Miltonian, Albert Anderson (1890-1918) was a member of Company "B" of the same battalion and fell victim to the disease. Albert would die en route on October 4.
Whereas Albert's Company "B" along with Companies "A & C" made the 17-mile trip to the port of Hoboken, Daniel's Company "D" had to be detained due to an outbreak of influenza. The outbreak must have been precautionary or at least limited because Company "D" caught up with the battalion and shipped out of Hoboken in the same convoy. Arriving on August 7, Daniel boarded a troop train to Southhampton reaching there the next day. Two days later they were encamped at Le Havre, France at the English Rest Camp. By October 12, they had arrived at Le Mans and spent the next two weeks resting and reorganizing. Soon they boarded another train arriving in Auzelles, Frank on October 27.
But somewhere along that route from Liverpool, England to Auzelles, France Private Daniel Bradley from Milton, Florida fell seriously ill. By October 21, 1918, the young man was dead from Spanish Influenza. He is reputedly said to have been buried in the Brookwood American Cemetery, the only American military cemetery in the British Isles. The only problem is that he is not listed among the graves there. Located 28 miles southwest of London, the cemetery contains 468 US war dead plus 41 unknown servicemen. Likely, Daniel is one of the unknowns. But regardless of where his remains are located, he still gave his life for his country and deserves all the honors thereof. As for his wife Idella, she would remarry on September 27, 1919, in Milton to George Brown and disappear from historical records.
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