Pfc. Clarence N. Clark

Service Number 333176

USMC

Clarence Nathaniel Clark was born February 20, 1920, to Mettie Bostick and Clarence N. Clark Sr. in Charleston, S.C. His father was a real estate agent at the time and two decades older than his young wife. About 1929, perhaps because of the Great Depression, Nathaniel moved the family back to his home state, Maine, and found work as a granite cutter. He didn’t last long in his new profession. In May 1933 he died, probably from a heart attack, while driving his car. His death left Mettie with 5 children— Aline, Jacqueline, Clarence, Raymond, and Louise—between the ages of 9 and 17.

The family continued to live in Dover Foxcroft and young Clarence finished high school at Foxcroft Academy in 1938. He found work at the local Blethen House hotel, followed by a stint as a hostler helper at the Southern Railroad Shop in Charleston, S.C., before returning to Maine to work in a local woolen mill. His July 14, 1941, draft card describes him as 5’9" tall, 150 lbs., with brown hair, brown eyes, and a ruddy complexion.

When the United States entered the World War II, Clarence was among the first young men to enlist, signing with the Marine Corps on December 19, 1941. Private Clark trained with the Second Recruit Battalion at Parris Island, S.C., and then was sent to New River, N.C., for additional training that in April of 1942 included special landing exercises conducted aboard the USS Henry Lee. His unit was the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, and most of the muster rolls from mid 1942 onward do not specify where he was. However the history of the famed 1st Marines fills in the story.

In June 1942 the division left the West Coast aboard eight ships headed for the South Pacific. They landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands August 7 and fought the Japanese there until relieved by the Americal Division on December 8. They retired to Melbourne, Australia, to rest and refit.

In September 1943 the 1st Marines sailed for Eastern New Guinea and New Britain and led the attack at the Battle of Cape Gloucester in late December, followed by fierce fighting on Suicide Creek and Ajar Ridge over the next six weeks. The next combat assignment was the Battle of Peleliu, in the Palau Islands. Division commander Maj. Gen. William H Rupertus predicted the battle would be a “tough but short … three or four days”—an assessment that was flat-out wrong. The 1st Marines landed on September 15, 1944, and its men and landing craft were immediately raked by crossfire as they neared the beach. That was just the opening salvo in a more than two-month-long bloody battle that incurred more than 6500 American casualties (killed and wounded).

Private First Class Clarence N. Clark died on the very first day of fighting for Peleliu, September 15, 1944. He left behind his bride of twenty seven months, Thelma Caroline Palmer Clark, his mother Mettie, and his four siblings. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, section 12, grave 1782.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery. If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at ceheditor@aol.com or email feedback@storiesbehindthestars.org

Sources

1920 U.S. Federal Census, Charleston, South Carolina—ancestry.com

1930 U.S. Federal Census, Dover Foxcroft, Maine—ancestry.com

1940 U.S. Federal Census, Dover Foxcroft, Maine—ancestry.com

U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men 1940-1947—ancestry.com

Bangor [Maine] Daily News, April 29, 1942—ancestry.com

Bangor [Maine] Daily News, April 30, 1943—ancestry.com

Portland [Maine] Press Herald, October 21, 1944—ancestry.com

Portland [Maine] Press Herald, October 27, 1948—ancestry.com

Bangor [Maine] Daily News, October 26, 1948—ancestry.com

U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls—ancestry.com

https://www.1stmardiv.marines.mil/Units/1ST-MARINE-REGT/History/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87354860/clarence-nathaniel-clark

SBTS Project/Maine/Piscatiquis

Clarence N Clark