World War II Veteran’s Preventable Suicide

Son to share story of World War II veteran’s preventable suicide 
Bangor Daily News
By Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN Staff
Posted Oct. 16, 2015

Bradt took his .45-caliber service revolver and used it to take his own life on Dec. 1, 1945,

AUGUSTA, Maine — The story of a University of Maine chemistry professor who served in World War II and returned to the U.S. only to take his own life will be discussed Saturday by his son who has written a trio of books based on nearly 700 letters penned by his father.

The Maine Military Historical Society is hosting the talk by Hale Bradt, a Korean War veteran from Salem, Massachusetts, who spent part of his youth in Orono, to show that post-traumatic stress disorder is treatable and suicide is preventable. Bradt will give his talk at 2 p.m. at the Augusta Armory.

“This presentation will serve as a powerful reminder of how our past and future warfighters must cope with the stresses of combat,” Maj. Norman Stickney, spokesman for the Maine National Guard, said Friday in an email. “Fortunately, the military has made some great advancements in diagnosis and treatment of these injuries for service members to seek help.”

Wilber E. Bradt was a professor and head of the Chemistry Department at UMaine when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, and the draft called him away to the Pacific as part of the Army’s 43rd Infantry Division.

Lt. Col. Wilber Bradt was assigned to the 172nd Infantry Regiment Combat Team, then based in Vermont and now based in Brewer, and returned stateside in October 1945 with a Purple Heart with cluster, Silver Star with two clusters and a Bronze Star for his service, according to the Bangor Public Library’s Book of Honor.
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