As a member of the Bowie High School Jackrabbits football team, Clarke Bradley was twice selected to the first team All-District football squad, and was a starting guard and Co Captain of the great 1946 undefeated Bowie squad which won the Regional Championship. He was not a large player, but at 155 pounds, he possessed great quickness and strength, and was like a coiled spring. When he hit, it was like being kicked by a mule. Clarke was very handsome, but was extremely shy, and he never dated. It drove some of the high school girls crazy.

During high school, Clarke never attended church or Sunday School, but never criticized any of those who did. He just was not interested.

Following graduation, Clarke enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, rose to the rank of Sergeant during the Korean conflict, and was in charge of a squad which went on patrol in the hills one day to locate enemy forces. It was late in the day, and he and his men found themselves in a "box canyon", and without warning, were ambushed by dozens of the North Korean forces which were dug in on the hillsides on both sides. Trapped, Clarke’s squad could offer little resistance, and without benefit of cover, they had no chance. Most of his squad were either killed or severely wounded within a few seconds. Mercifully, darkness eventually provided some modicum of cover and protection from the massive and relentless enemy fire.

As the surviving Marines huddled together during the moonless night, they realized that the only way out of their predicament was the same way they had come in: through hostile terrain controlled by the enemy. Their radio man was dead, and the radio was destroyed, so they had no communication available.

During the night, the survivors tried as best they knew how, to care for their wounded. At some point, one of the men suggested that they pray. Now Clarke had never attended church, and he did not know how, or to whom, to pray. But he nevertheless spoke to this God who was completely unknown to him, and asked that death would come mercifully and quickly, and without suffering to his men. All the survivors knew that death was imminent with the coming of the new day, and seemed resigned to their fate. To a man, they vowed that, come morning, they would walk out like Marines. Since Marines never leave their wounded behind, each man vowed to carry their wounded, fully aware of the certainty of sudden death, which surely awaited them all.

And at first light, this pitiful, but courageous and noble little band of United States Marines , picked up their wounded comrades even though most of them were, themselves wounded, and began their final walk into eternity. Some of those more seriously wounded, including Clarke, could manage only to hobble or crawl, but they nevertheless began their journey, sustained by the innate pride they felt as United States Marines. With heads held high, managing their wounded as best they could, they began what they knew would surely be their final steps on this earth. They could see and hear dozens of the enemy entrenched above in the surrounding hillsides. And so they began their fateful journey into immorality, knowing that the end would come soon.

Not a single shot was fired by either side. The Marines eventually made their way back to the safety of their base camp without further incident. And Clarke Bradley’s life was forever changed.

Some forty plus years later, as Clark related this story to me, I listened as he described how the incident in Korea had instantly and forever changed him. Resultant of that experience, he had immediately accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour, and from that moment, he had promised to serve God for the rest of his life. And Clarke kept that promise. He met and married a wonderful Christian girl, and together they raised two fine sons. Not incidentally, Clarke chose as his life’s work, service in a Veterans’ hospital in order to serve his fellow man.

He told me that, as those Marines began their fateful walk that morning so long ago in Korea, that he was overcome with, and comforted by an unexplainable feeling of peace. To the day he died, he believed that God had sent His angels to protect that tiny band of U.S. Marine warriors. And whom among us is to dispute that?

As Clarke approached the last of his life, he requested that only two songs be sung/played when his earthly walk was finished: "Hail Bowie High School" and "The Marine Corps Hymn". These songs were the most meaningful in his life. And his request was honored. The Lord called Clarke home September 29, 1993. His earthly body was interred at Briar Creek Cemetery. On his stone: "But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me". Semper Fi, Clarke.