One on One with Markus - Gerry Bradley

Gerry Bradley's basement in Sudbury is a museum of his seven decade involvement with the Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps.

"I have probably the first newspaper clippings from back in 1943 and all of the different things I've been involved with over the years," Bradley told CBC's Morning North.

"I've collected all these pictures over the years, and actually I have more than 2,000 pictures."

Bradley joined the Admiral Mountbatten Sea Cadets in 1946 when he was in grade eight.

This is one of two thousand pictures Gerry Bradley has collected over the years. Bradley first joined the sea cadets in 1946. (Markus Schwabe/CBC)

He had been interested in the corps since it first started in Sudbury three years earlier, but he was too young and fell one inch short of the five-foot-two inch height requirement.

"The officer that interviewed me said, 'You know, there's a war surplus store here in town. If you go down there you can get a pair of army boots for two bucks.' Which I did. And I went back a few weeks later and I was five-foot-two and a half."

A lifelong commitment

The sea cadets have been a defining feature of the 84-year-old's life ever since.

Bradley remembers doing rifle drills and knots, and learning about navy history. He said the corps would also march all the way from Howey Drive to Queen's Athletic Field and back, carrying eight pound rifles.

Bradley liked how he stood out as a cadet.

Bradley met his wife Joan at a sea cadet dance in 1950.

"Even though we all had short hair back in the 50s and 60s, you were in a uniform and you know, you had shiny boots and your discipline showed through," he said.

In 1950, Bradley met his wife at a dance at the cadet hall. Together they had two daughters and a son, who later followed in his father's footsteps and joined the corps.

Marking an anniversary

Bradley became an officer in 1972. Five years later, he was promoted to commander and appointed as the area officer for northern Ontario.

He also became the deputy commanding officer of summer training at CFB Borden, where more than 500 cadets from across the country trained every year.

The Admiral Mountbatten Sea Cadets were named after British Admiral Louis Mountbatten, whom Bradley met several times. He also attended Mountbatten's funeral after his assassination in 1979. (Markus Schwabe/CBC)

Even after his service Bradley stayed on as a volunteer, helping to lead cadet trips across the country and around the world. He is currently involved in organizing the corp's 75th reunion in May.

Bradley said he doesn't know how his life would have gone without the sea cadets, many of whom he has known for a lifetime.

"I have more friends from my cadet career than from anything else."