BAY RIDGE — Jimmy Bradley Jr. was a Brooklynite through and through. Hailing from Bay Ridge, he was described by his father, Jim Bradley Sr., as “your wing man,” and “the best — a real solid dude.”

“If you were in trouble, he would be there,” Bradley Sr. said. “Jimmy was a true gentleman — exactly the kind of boy I’d hoped he’d be.” 

Bradley was the youngest of five, with four older sisters whom he was very close with. After attending Le Moyne College for two years, Bradley eventually decided he wanted to join the Navy to do “something more impactful and meaningful.”  

After enlisting, Bradley went through bootcamp and later went to the Mississippi Gulfport United States Naval Construction Battalion — better known as the Navy Seabee — training center before he was sent to California and then deployed to Okinawa, Japan.

“We talked about going to visit him,” Bradley’s father recalled. “He said he’d be home at Christmas time. So we said we would wait.”

But unfortunately, that day never came.

On the evening of Oct. 30, 2019, Bradley Sr. and his wife, Teri, were woken up from their sleep by a Navy chaplain and a casualty case officer. 

“I knew when I saw those two uniforms that only meant one thing,” Bradley Sr., an NYPD retiree, said. 

Bradley Jr. was found dead inside his locked room at the Port Hueneme Naval Base barracks in Ventura County, California, in a suspected suicide. He was 22 years old. 

“Nobody saw this coming. Nobody had any clue,” his father pointed out. “I thought he was happy in the Navy. We still don’t have any answers or really know the reason why.” 

Keeping a legacy alive

After the first anniversary of Jimmy’s passing, the Bradley family created a fundraiser designed to keep Bradley Jr.’s name and legacy alive.

“We did not want his name forgotten,” Bradley Sr. said. “So we decided that in the next year, 2021, we would do something to honor him.”

Approximately $50,000 was donated to various charities over the past three years of fundraising. The fourth annual Jimmy Bradley Fundraising Event was held on Oct. 27 at The Wicked Monk. This year, the goal was to raise money for a dedicated and deserving Xavier student for tuition assistance. 

The feeling in the room was particularly warm, friendly and positive. In addition, the turnout was significant. 

“He was an amazing kid,” Bradley Sr. said. “The hole he left with his passing is enormous. I miss him terribly.” 

Military suicide 

According to U.S. News & World Report, a 2021 study estimated that four times as many active duty service members and veterans died by suicide as died in battle since 9/11.

Further, despite recent calls to action to improve suicide prevention within the military, suicide rates remain elevated among service members. In particular, active duty Army suicide rates were nearly two times higher than other active duty military services and more than two and a half times higher than the general population. 

Suicide rates are even more elevated in veterans, with an estimated 17 or more dying by suicide each day in 2021.