Corporal Bradlee Pierce, 37, of Phoenix, AZ enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on October 12, 2004, as a Machine Gunner and later as a Security Guard. He was deployed three times to Iraq over the next six years, earning two Purple Hearts and was honorably discharged on April 11th of 2010.
After earning a master’s degree, he established Mainstay Information Systems providing expert cyber security and emerging technology integration to the federal government and industry, something he was very proud of.

In his spare time, he was an avid golfer and was involved with the Wounded Warriers, Veteran’s Golfers, Vetsports, and the Salute Military Golf Association. Brad had a large heart that all his friends and family admired.

Brad spoke of his wartime injuries matter-of-factly, once saying: “I was blown up four times. I didn’t lose any limbs, but I took some shrapnel. I was lucky. I took some bruising on the brain, but physically now, I’m OK.”

You can be physically OK but not mentally OK. PTSD is real. Men and women struggle with it daily, often with smiles on their faces. They suffer in silence for fear of being labeled. Sometimes, these hidden battles waged in private become too much to bear. Bradlee lost that battle January 2, 2023.