Pub. 55 2014-2015 Issue 2

22 O n the high plains of Texas in the scenic Palo Duro Canyon lies the historic Goodnight Ranch. Amarillo car dealer and TADA Past Chairman, Eddie Bradley, has a place on the Goodnight spread that he has named Spring Creek Ranch for the perpetually flowing creek that winds among the cottonwoods dotting the rustic red landscape. The beautiful spring-fed lake and campground that Bradley has developed play host to youth groups and children, as the Bradley family like all Texas car dealers support their community and its institutions. Eddie Bradley’s son, TADA Board member Daniel, is a partner in the family business, AutoInc., and has throughout his young life developed an interest in the U.S. military and the patriots who keep our country free. Daniel’s mentor in all things military is John Regal, a decorated Marine captain in Vietnam and later in his career a Lt. Colonel. Daniel relates his experience with Colonel Regal and other military heroes in this way: I have known John Regal my whole life. Our family has a summer cabin at a club called the Palo Duro Club. Colonel Regal has lived across the road forever. As a kid I loved the military stuff and was the defacto leader of a group of boys who “played army” daily. We would acquire our gear from a sleazy surplus army/navy store that has since gone out of business. Needless to say, our uniforms were sloppy and a hodgepodge of gear. When I was in the 5th grade or so we were sitting around in our gear and Colonel Regal pulled up with big boxes in his pickup. (At the time, he was retired but taught at a local high school and was the officer in charge of their local USMC Junior ROTC program). He asked what we were doing and I replied “Playing Army, Sir”. He pulled me aside, let me know that he had something he needed me to see get “distributed to my squad” but there was a condition. “NO MORE Gunfighters at Spring Creek Ranch Justin Boswood, Hero of Hell House, Fallujah Patrick O’Donnell, John Regal, Eddie Bradley Eddie Bradley on the Spring Creek Ranch Lake