My Chains are Gone

A Marine sniper who grew up in Cuba, in Allegany County, died from injuries he suffered from an improvised explosive device in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. Sgt. Mark A. Bradley was 25. His father, Jack Bradley, remembered his son Friday as a “true patriot and a true hero and a true American.” “He was doing exactly what he wanted to do,” Jack Bradley told The Buffalo News. “He loved it. He died in the service of his country in the proudest of traditions.”


Mark Bradley joined the Marine Corps a few months after graduating from Cuba-Rushford High School in 2003.“He grew up in a military family,” said Jack Bradley, who is retired from the Air Force. “It was kind of a calling for him. He joined the Marine Corps. We encouraged him to.” He was assigned to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and his family soon moved South as well. His father moved to Mississippi and his mother, Sherry Bradley, settled in Clayton, N. C., so she could be closer to her son.


In Clayton, Mark Bradley met his wife, Samantha, whom he married a little over two years ago. Bradley was on his fourth tour overseas with the Marines, his father said. It was his first tour in Afghanistan. He had served one tour in Iraq as an infantryman and two more aboard ships as part of a Marine Expeditionary Unit, one in the Persian Gulf and the other in the Indian Ocean.


Last fall, he and his brother, Steven, a corporal in the Marines, graduated from sniper school. They were about halfway through their seven-month tour in Afghanistan, serving in the same platoon but in different locations of the country when Mark Bradley was injured.

Bradley was airlifted to Germany with his brother escorting him. The sergeant was then flown to the Bethesda Naval Hospital last Friday. “He survived for 13 days,” Jack Bradley said. “There were a couple of times we really thought he was going to come through.” Doctors performed multiple surgeries, amputating both of his legs, and worked on his brain, trying to control bleeding. “He was getting better, getting stronger and then the other day they discovered he was hemorrhaging again in the brain,” the father said. “And then his brain just swelled and it was just not recoverable.”


Bradley died Thursday morning at Bethesda. His father said he hoped people would remember his son as a hero and a young man filled with life and love. “I think the thing they need to know is what a fantastic son, husband and Marine and hero he was,” he said. “He was fun loving. He lived every day to his fullest. He will be sorely missed for sure.”


Although his family had moved away years ago, Sgt. Mark Bradley was remembered at his alma mater and throughout Cuba. Gary White, athletic director at Cuba Rushford High, recalled how his sons often played whiffle ball with Mark and his brother when they were little. “He was a great kid,” White said. “It’s stunned us all here. We just found out yesterday. It’s just tragic. You wonder why.”


On Friday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo directed flags on state government buildings to be flown at half staff on Tuesday in Bradley’s honor. “On behalf of the people of New York, I want to express my sympathy to the family, friends, and fellow Marines of Sergeant Bradley,” Cuomo said in a statement. “As we mourn the loss of this young Marine from Western New York, we honor and remember his service to our nation.”










Indicative of his spirit, Mark fought to the very end, but his body was just too sick to survive the massive wounds he received in combat,” Jack Bradley wrote. My son, my hero, great husband to Samantha and one of the Marine Corps finest warriors"


The death of a loved one creates a hole in the soul. A hurtful, empty place. An emptiness beyond mere words that seemingly screams to be filled. It aches to be filled with despair and anger, but we struggle to fill it with positive things instead. Nothing works. It still screams out to be filled and the pain is intense. So what can we do to fill this awful void that has penetrated deep into our soul?

Logic is the basis of the human thought process. Logic says that if you find a hole in the yard, this means some of the dirt has been removed. So, logically, you get a shovel of dirt and begin to put it in the hole until it's filled again.  The hole is gone.The ground once again is level.

Logic doesn't work with the soul.  Logic is a physical thing.  This void in our soul isn't physical.  It's emotional.  Logic is not emotional.  So naturally, the logical thing to do doesn't work.


You have to believe they are not gone. They remain here beside you just in a different form. Look for them in your heart and there you will find them. In those moments when you feel alone look for them in your thoughts and you will find them. And every time a tear forms in your eyes look up to the heavens and you will see them.

Keep Marks family in your prayers today, especially his young wife. Honor Mark today by being greatful for the life you have been given and never take for granted the life he gave. Honor God and pray for peace because he is the air we breath and the water we thirst for.

Im leaving you with lyrics from a song that remind me that even though a life may have been lost, God has a much bigger plan. And now Marks chains are gone and he has been set free.

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace