Young lieutenant from Steilacoom killed in Afghanistan wanted to help Afghan people

Lt. Brian Bradshaw, 24, a 2007 graduate of Pacific Lutheran University, died Thursday in Kheyl, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised bomb went off near his vehicle, the Department of Defense announced Friday.

A spokesman at Fort Richardson in Alaska, where Lt. Bradshaw was stationed, said he'd been on patrol when his vehicle struck a bomb. He was injured when he transferred from his patrol vehicle to a nearby civilian truck, which also hit a bomb.

Paul Bradshaw, of Steilacoom, Pierce County, said his son joined the Army and went to Afghanistan "to try and help people" and to make the lives of the people there better.

"That was his hope. He didn't go to win a war."

Lt. Bradshaw was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division in Fort Richardson, Alaska. He was deployed to Afghanistan in March, his father said.

Paul Bradshaw said he talked to his son by telephone on Father's Day.

"He said that where they were at you couldn't recognize if they were making a difference, but they had made friends in that area."

The danger was obvious, his father said, but whenever his son spoke about it "he was worried about all his men ... not himself."

"He would be tired when he called us," his father said. "But ... he was always upbeat. He was very happy when we sent packages. What he asked for was things to give away to local children there.

"When they were out on patrol they would take crayons, colored pencils and books and toys to give to the children."

Lt. Bradshaw came from a military family. His father is a retired National Guard helicopter pilot; his mother is a retired Army nurse.

Like any parents in these times, Paul Bradshaw said, they had "very mixed emotions" about their son's choice to join the ROTC program at PLU.

"We are proud beyond belief, (but) we really didn't encourage him very much, either."

A graduate of Visitation Catholic School and Bellarmine High School, both in Tacoma, Lt. Bradshaw grew up in Steilacoom.

During high school he served as a member of Pierce County Search and Rescue and was a counselor during summers at Camp Don Bosco, a Catholic Youth Organization camp in Carnation, where he had once been a camper himself.

Paul Bradshaw described his son as "very athletic, an outdoors and very action-oriented person. He bicycled, was a backcountry skier and climbed mountains."

He said his son knew Crystal Mountain Ski Area and Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia very well. "But his favorite place (to ski) was Mount Baker," he said.

He could also be very funny, he said. "He has a great sense of humor," he said.

No funeral arrangements have yet been made. Paul Bradshaw said there will be a memorial service probably after July 4.

In addition to his father, Lt. Bradshaw is survived by his mother, Mary, and his brother, Robert.

Seattle Times staff reporter Charles Brown contributed to this report.