The blood of a sea cadet flows through the veins of the Gerry Bradley and family.
In 1946, a then 14-year-old Bradley got his first taste of what it was like to be a sea cadet. At the time, it was Canadian law that high school students had to belong to a cadet corps of some kind. Bradley settled on the sea cadets, and the rest is literally a 70-year history in the making.
“In 1946, I was in Grade 8 at Elm Street Public School,” Bradley said. “There were 16 boys in my class, and 14 of us joined the sea cadets, mainly because we wanted to get into uniform, but in high school, you had to belong to a cadet corps. That was the law at the time. That lasted only until the end of the war, and it was a good way of recruit.”
Of the 14 of boys from Elm Street Public School who joined the sea cadets that year, two of them became commanding officers. Bradley was one of them. He served in that position from 1972 to 1977 before his unofficial retirement. It was unofficial in that he served for another four years as the commanding officer of summer training at CFB Borden before officially retiring in 1981.
That didn't mean the end of his cadet career, though. He continues to be involved as the historian for the Admiral Mountbatten Sea Cadets, but he's also the membership chair for the Navy League and is one member of a 16-member committee organizing the 75th anniversary reunion for the Admiral Mountbatten Sea Cadets, which takes place May 4-6. He also served as area officer for Northern Ontario, and is a founding member and current president of the Mountbatten alumni association.
The corps was only three years old when Bradley first joined. It was named after Earl Louis Mountbatten of Burma, a retired admiral of the British fleet. He visited Sudbury on a number of occasions before he passed away in 1979.
“He was quite the man,” he said.
It was at a sea cadet dance where he first met his wife, Joan. His own son, his grandchildren and great grandchildren have also been members of the sea cadet corps.
Bradley's dedication to that sea cadets corps recently earned him the June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award for Volunteerism.
“I've had quite a career,” he said.
Bradley was one of 12 people from across Ontario to be recognized this year. The award recognizes dedicated individuals and organizations who, like the late June Callwood, demonstrate exceptional leadership, creativity and innovation in their service to their communities and others.
Journalist, author and Order of Ontario appointee, the late June Callwood was one of Canada’s most well-known social activists, founding or co-founding more than 50 Canadian social action organizations.
Since 2009, 198 individuals and groups have received the June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award for Voluntarism.
