_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Two Lives in Review"
by George Melville Bradley, Jr.,
& Elizabeth Purple
as told to Annie Bradley
George & Mary Bradley
Bob & Elizabeth Purple
A Grandfather's Life
A Grandmother's Life
About the Documentarian
![My grandfather, George Melville Bradley, Jr., lives on the ninth floor of his apartment complex in Leisure World, a community for those 55 and older – “The Destination for the Ageless Generation.” At 86 years old, it may seem hard to view him as ageless, but a simple conversation with him proves that a youthful soul betrays his weathered face. With a depth of memory better than those years younger than him and a wit that’s sharp as a tack, he proves that age is truly just a number.—Annie Bradley Childhood My name is George Melville Bradley Jr — my father was George Melville Bradley Sr.; the “Melville” was his mother’s maiden name. I was born December 23, 1928, so I’m 86 years old. I had a bunch of different jobs when I was younger, but spent most of my working years at the CIA. I was born at Sibley hospital in Washington DC. Nobody in my family had much money and the Depression started when I was still a baby. We moved around a few times when I was a kid. We lived in Washington but also had relatives we stayed with in Maryland, near Washington. I went to school in Washington and graduated from Eastern High School. I went to college a lot later, when I was married and had kids and had already been working for a lot of years. I graduated from the University of Maryland in 1968.
Meeting Mary I met Mary when we were both working at the Census Bureau in Washington. She had moved to Washington from where her family lived, in Grafton, West Virginia, to get a job, and she didn’t have a car — she took the bus back and forth to work from her apartment, and to get anywhere else she wanted to go. And I had a red convertible that I drove to work. This was before there was air conditioning on buses, or even in many buildings, and that summer she saw me driving by the hot bus she was on in my convertible, and she decided she wanted to meet me, or at least meet my car. That was in the summer of 1951, and we got married that October 27. I was Catholic and she wasn’t, so the priest wouldn’t marry us in the church. So when you see our wedding pictures, we’re standing in the entranceway to the rectory, because he did agree to marry us there, and our families and everyone is all crowded around us there.
Starting a Family and Going to Vietnam I went to Vietnam because the agency needed people over there and it paid a lot more to go there, and we were getting ready to pay for college for our four kids. It was hard to be away from Mary and the kids, and sometimes there were scary things, because the war was really going on then, but it wasn’t too bad. A lot of what I did there was just talking to people, getting an idea of what local people thought and did, and then sending the information back to the agency. We weren’t involved in the fighting at all, we weren’t soldiers, but we had to be ready, because in Vietnam the fighting happened all over the place. Once, we heard the North Vietnamese coming into one end of the little town our compound was in. So we ran up onto the roof of the place and started shooting off all of our guns, not at people, put just up in the air to make as much noise as possible and make it seem like there were a lot of South Vietnamese and American soldiers in town. And I guess it worked, because the North Vietnamese never got there. When I got back to the United States I stayed at the agency, working in Langley, Virginia. I did a few different things, but most of the time I was an analyst — I was the guy receiving those messages from agency people overseas, like I’d been sending from Vietnam, and I’d read them to decide what information in them was worth something, and send them off to whoever needed to see them. And to help pay those college bills, Mary got a job as a secretary at Northern Virginia Community College. She had stopped working when we got married and started having kids. In Greece We had lived in France for a while in the 50s, before we had kids, and we really liked that, and then the agency stationed me in Athens in the late 50s, and that was great. It wasn’t like Vietnam, where there was a war going on and I had to go alone. In Greece, Mary and the kids were with me, and it hadn’t been too long since World War II, so everyone there loved Americans. The people there, the Greeks, were really nice. When John Kennedy was shot in 1963, Greeks kept coming up to us to tell us how bad they felt about that, because they knew we were Americans. We had a Greek maid to help around the house. There were 3-4 other families like us, people I knew from work who were about the same age as us and had kids the same ages as our kids, and so we did everything together. On the weekends we could go to the beach, swim in the Mediterranean, and there were always parties that someone would throw, sometimes us. We stayed friends with most of them for years after we came home in 1965. Back in America We came back from Greece in 1965. We had a great time over there, but it was nice to come back to the United States where all of our family was. We lived with relatives for a short time while our house in Annandale, Va., was being built and then we moved in there. When we moved into that neighborhood it was brand new, all of the houses were new, and we bought ours and my sister-in-law Jo Ann and her husband Buddy (his real name is Buford) bought one up the street, so we had Mary’s brother and family right nearby. So we saw them all the time. When the kids were younger, Buddy and Jo Ann both worked in Washington and Mary stayed at home with our kids, so Jim would come over after school and stay there until Buddy and Jo Ann got home from work. We spent holidays together a lot, and had other relatives, who mostly lived in Maryland, over too. In 1969, when the astronauts landed on the moon, we were all getting ready to watch it on TV like everyone else in the world, and our power went out! So we walked up the street to Buddy and Jo Ann’s and watched it there.
We were a lot better off with money than when I was a kid. We owned a place in Ocean City, Maryland. It was a nice little condominium that we saved up to buy, and then we rented it out for as much of the year as we could and saved a week every summer for us to go down and use it ourselves. It was on the bay side, so it cost less to buy, but it was only a couple blocks from the ocean so you could walk up to the beach whenever you wanted. We had done everything we could to save money to pay for college for four kids, but by now we were starting to feel a little better about money, because we were both making money and could see that we were going to be able to pay for college. Buddy got a scholarship to Cornell, which helped. Mary had her job at the college and I had made better money when I was in Vietnam. When I came back I got a good job at CIA headquarters and they kept giving me promotions. Sometimes I wasn’t sure why they gave me the promotions, but it was great to get them.
Backyard Weddings There are a lot of great pictures taken that day! This is the day Karen and Peter got married, in our back yard in Annandale! They got married in the back yard and had the reception there too. A few years later, Joyce had her wedding reception in the back yard too. So this was taken during the wedding reception. You can see the arch over on the right where they actually got married. Lots of relatives that day, including my mother second from the left, Mary, my brother-in-law Roy Ennis — he’s the one holding the baby, which I guess must be Kimberly — Buddy, and all the way on the right, my sister, Carol. That’s Karen in the middle, with Carol’s twins, Sharon and Shelly, who I think is holding the bouquet because she caught it. I had worked hard all summer to make the back yard look as good as I could. I look pretty happy, so I guess it all worked out. I remember that it was kind of an ugly day, I think it even rained that morning, but about a half hour before people were supposed to start showing up, the sun came out and it was a beautiful afternoon. After Retirement So now we have lots of grandkids! After Mary and I retired we moved to Florida. That’s what we always planned on doing, and we liked it, we had a great house with a pool in the backyard and I had a boat that I’d take out on the canals. But I had some problems with my eyes and other things, and we decided we didn’t like being so far from the kids and then they started having kids. So we moved back to Virginia and got the house in Ashbury. It was really nice, although we decided it was too big after a few years. But it was big enough that people could come visit and stay with us too. Now we’re old people! Old age isn’t much fun. I feel like we see doctors all the time, and Mary has a disease [progressive supranuclear palsy] that is very, very hard to deal with. Neurologists, eye doctors, regular doctors. There’s always something. But we’re lucky, we have our daughter [Joyce] and our son [David] living nearby and we found Teresa who comes to help me with Mary every day. A lot of people don’t have anyone to help them out. Special Occasion This is me dancing with Joyce at Pat and Ashley’s wedding. He’s the first of the grandkids to get married. They got married up in Pennsylvania. I wasn’t sure I should go, I thought I should stay here and take care of Mary, and I knew she’d feel bad that she couldn’t go. But the kids thought I could go, and we got Teresa to stay and take care of Mary, because I was going to be gone overnight. And it was really great. Karen and Peter drove me up there, and we all stayed in the same place, right where the wedding was. All of the kids and all of their kids were there. It was really a great night. I was surprised my suit still fit. I hadn’t worn a suit and tie in years. ◊](images/u11758-66.png?crc=4120883833)
George, on the left, with his siblings in Washington, DC, during the early 1930s.
George & Mary in the 1950s.
Starting a family. Then, heading to Vietnam.
In Greece.
In Ocean City, Md. , with Mary and daughter, Karen, and her husband, Peter.
Daughter Karen's wedding.
Dancing with Joyce.
![I interviewed my grandmother, Elisabeth Purple in her home overlooking the Patuxent River in Hollywood, Md. – one of her favorite places in the world. She moved here with her husband, my grandfather Bob Purple, in 1985 and they lived here until his death on the last day of 2012. Now living with my aunt and uncle in Springfield, Va., Betty can only make it down to the house a weekend or two a month when my mother visits, and I know she looks forward to these trips.
There’s an easy, serene beauty to the house: the view of the river from the large bay windows, the delicate glass bird figurines perched on tables, and the way the sun lights up the house, filtered through the many pieces of stained glass my grandfather made in the garage. I know she appreciates all this by the way her demeanor changes when we sit down in the sun-bathed living room, the pleased sigh she allows herself as she sinks onto the couch.
But we were both here to witness the unorthodox beauty this place held, that might not have been so clear to outsiders: the way the house felt packed with her children and grandchildren, the sounds of the kids swimming in the river and playing on the tire swing, the identical laugh of she and her three daughters all share, and perhaps more than anything, the sound of her husband’s voice. There was a time when the tranquility present here now was drowned out by the hustle and bustle of a big family, but she never minded: she’s been used to action and excitement her whole life.—Annie Bradley Early life MY NAME IS Elisabeth Purple, and how old am I? I’m 85! I had to think about that. I was born in Boston, Mass., and my father was in the military so I grew up in many different places. I ended up going to 16 schools before I graduated from high school! But I enjoyed it, it didn’t bother me. Texas is probably where I stayed the longest, but three different places in Texas. My favorite place was San Antonio. I was in my teenage years and it was a lot of fun. We lived close to the swimming pool so I could go swimming.
I graduated from high school and went to Robert College in Istanbul, Turkey. I went there for only one year but because English was my native language, there as no more subjects I could take. Then I went to school in Geneva, Switzerland. I was in a French school and they only spoke French. I had a ski accident, and I missed so much class I had to stop school. Then I went to a school that taught French to people that wanted to learn French. My mother was from Paris, so I wanted to learn the language. I didn’t really know French. I was the youngest of six kids, so by the time they got to me they weren’t speaking much French! After college, I went to the Washington School for Secretaries and became a secretary and worked in the Pentagon. It was a good job. I worked for NATO, I really enjoyed it. I was a secretary to a planning group – officers who were planning NATO. It was an exciting time. Meeting Bob I met Bob on a blind date! He was actually dating somebody else, and the four of us went out together. The guy I was dating left for Korea and Bob was still there, so we started dating. Bob got orders to go to France, so he didn’t have to go to Korea or Vietnam, which was good. He did go to Vietnam later, but at this time he didn’t have to. Anyway, we got married on October 17, 1950, and went to France. We knew each other for two months….things go fast when there’s a war going on. We went to France and lived there for three years, and our oldest child Richard was born while we there.
Life on the Road I liked living in France very much, but I was anxious to get back to the United States. Two years is a long time to be gone. We came back to the U.S., but since Bob was in the military, we moved a lot. We moved so much that Richard was born in France, Jeannie in Washington state, Elees in Fort Belfort, Va., and Susie was born in Wright-Patterson Air Force base in Ohio. I really enjoyed moving around, I’d done it all my life and it didn’t bother me in the least. I always wanted to see new places and new people.
We went to Brussels for two years, it was wonderful, it was quite nice. Jeanne and Richard were already in college. The only ones we had were Susie and Elees. I liked living in a foreign place. I took French while I was living there, because they speak French. We all enjoyed it – Elees and Sue went to an American school, and Jeannie came over and traveled with a friend of hers for a while. In fact, we had a big house! A lot of kids stopped by that were traveling. We had a washer and dryer so they could do their laundry. Elees actually graduated from high school in Brussels. We came back to the U.S. in 1978. We kept the house, we rented it out while we were gone. We knew we would come back to the Washington area, being in the military, so we kept the house and moved back into the house. It worked out pretty well.
Empty Nesters When all the kids had graduated from school, I was working at the time. I was working at Dominion Psychiatric School as a secretary. I very much liked working there, the people were really good, and I liked helping the students, who were troubled teens. It was the day and time were there was a lot of drugs and that kind of thing, so a lot of kids needed straightening out and I was glad to help.
We moved to our house on the Patuxent River in Hollywood, Md., in 1985. We enjoyed being there on the water. We still owned the house in Springfield when we bought the house down in Hollywood, Md. We lived right on the water and we liked to do boating and swimming, but especially boating. Bob really liked that. We had a sailboat and a motorboat. We later bought a big houseboat that we traveled in. We got the big boat down to Florida and up to the Canadian border, Lake Chaplain, in the State of New York. Those were long trips, and we did them at different times. We really enjoyed traveling. We liked the house because the neighbors were wonderful, the schools were great…we really enjoyed it. It was also really close to the Pentagon, where Bob worked. He retired in around 1988. Bob had retired and we had to think up something that we should be doing! He took a stained glass course and he just loved it. So he did that, and we sold our work in about three different places. We did a lot of special work that people ordered specifically for us to make. All of it was good. I like our lighthouses the best, there’s a lighthouse not too far from where we lived that was very beautiful. Growing family Oh, I was very excited when I started having grandkids! I have eight now, you know so I’ve got to be excited! I loved it when everyone came over, and I think you all came down to the bay and you had to learn to swim! We were right on the water and we didn’t want any accidents to happen. I was a swimmer all my life, so I helped everyone learn.
Now I live at Aunt Elees’ and Jeannie’s. I like being with family, especially since Bob died [in the final days of 2012]. Being with family is wonderful. I really like visiting back down at the bay. I like living here with all of you guys, and Christmas is wonderful, because we all get together at Christmas – it’s a big crowd! It’s my favorite holiday because I get to see all my family. ◊](images/u11765-73.png?crc=247572574)
Betty in her element, on the water, in about 1985.
Betty at her first communion in Panama.
Betty and Bob: wedding day.
Betty and Bob on vacation in the Caribbean in 1988.
ANNIE BRADLEY IS currently a sophomore at Christopher Newport University, double majoring in Communication Studies and Sociology with a minor in Film Studies. Outside of class, I am involved two of Christopher Newport University's biggest media organizations, the Captain’s Log and CNU TV. Growing up in Northern Virginia allowed me to see my grandparents often, but doing this project gave me a much greater insight to the beautiful lives they have lived.
ANNIE BRADLEY IS currently a sophomore at Christopher Newport University, double majoring in Communication Studies and Sociology with a minor in Film Studies. Outside of class, I am involved two of Christopher Newport University's biggest media organizations, the Captain’s Log and CNU TV. Growing up in Northern Virginia allowed me to see my grandparents often, but doing this project gave me a much greater insight to the beautiful lives they have lived.