Mark Clark - Charleston SC
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Don.Morfe
N 32° 47.898 W 079° 57.540
17S E 597468 N 3629406
United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He was the youngest four-star general in the United States Army during World War II. President of Citadel 1954-1965.
Waymark Code: WM12X3W
Location: South Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 07/29/2020
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Alfouine
Views: 0

He is buried in the campus of the Citadel. The grave is next to Summerall Chapel on the Ave of Remembrance.

From Wikipedia: Post-military career- From 1954 until 1965, after retiring from the Army, Clark served as president of The Citadel, the military college located in Charleston, South Carolina.

From 1954 to 1955, Clark was head of the so-called "Clark Task Force" to study and make recommendations on all intelligence activities of the Federal government. The task force had been created in 1953 by the second Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, a.k.a. the Hoover Commission because it was chaired by Herbert Hoover.

Members of the Clark Task Force were Adm. Richard L. Conolly, USN (Ret), a former Deputy Chief of Naval Operations; Ernest F. Hollings, the speaker pro tempore of South Carolina's House of Representatives; California businessman Henry Kearns; Edward V. Rickenbacker, World War I flying ace and president of Eastern Air Lines; and Donald S. Russell, a former Assistant Secretary of State. The staff director was Maj. Gen. James G. Christiansen, USA (Ret). The task force first met early November 1954 and in May 1955 submitted one Top Secret report for the President, and another unclassified for the Hoover Commission and Congress. The Clark task force coined the term Intelligence Community to describe "...the machinery for accomplishing our intelligence objectives."

Clark wrote two memoirs: Calculated Risk (1950) and From the Danube to the Yalu (1954).[36] His wife, Maurine, also wrote a memoir: Captain's Bride, General's Lady (1956).

In 1962, Clark was elected an honorary member of the South Carolina Society of the Cincinnati in recognition of his outstanding service to his country
Description:
From Wikipedia: World War II-In January 1942, a month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent American entry into World War II, Clark was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of Army Ground Forces, commanded by Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, and in May 1942, became its Chief of Staff as staff officers were rapidly moved to newly created commands by General Gage Michael Miller. In April 17, 1942 Clark was promoted to the two-star rank of major general. Just two weeks before his 46th birthday, he was the youngest major general in the U.S. Army. In June, Clark, along with Major General Dwight Eisenhower, was sent to England as Commanding General (CG) of II Corps, and the next month moved up to CG, Army Forces in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). Along with Eisenhower, he was sent to work out the feasibility of a cross-channel invasion of German-occupied Europe that year, based on the Germany first strategy, which had been agreed on by American and British military and political leaders the year before if the United States were to enter the conflict. It was while in England that Clark first met the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, who was much impressed by Clark, referring to him as "The American Eagle", along with General Sir Alan Brooke, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (the professional head of the British Army), and Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery, then commander of the South Eastern Command. After a cross-channel invasion was ruled out for 1942, attention was turned to planning for an Allied invasion of French North Africa, given the code name of Operation Gymnast, later Operation Torch. In October, Clark was assigned to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) as deputy to Eisenhower, who was now the Supreme Allied Commander in the theater. In doing so he relinquished command of II Corps. Clark's duty was to prepare for Operation Torch. Clark also made a covert visit to French North Africa (see Operation Flagpole) to meet with pro-Allied officers of the Vichy French forces. (Skip several paragraphs) Early on the morning of January 28, 1944, a PT boat carrying Clark to the Anzio beachhead, six days after the Anzio landings, was mistakenly fired on by U.S. naval vessels. Several sailors were killed and wounded around him.[27] Next month, during the air raid he ordered on Monte Cassino abbey, 16 bombs were mistakenly dropped at the Fifth Army headquarter compound then 17 miles (27 km) away from there, exploding yards from his trailer while he was at his desk inside.[28] A few months later, on June 10, he again narrowly escaped death when, while flying over Civitavecchia, his pilot failed to see the cable of a barrage balloon. The cable entwined the wing, forcing the Piper Cub into a rapid downward spiral. The plane broke free of the cable after the third time around, leaving a large section of the wing behind. The fuel tank ruptured, spraying the fuselage with gasoline. Miraculously, the pilot managed to land safely in a cornfield. "I never had a worse experience" wrote Clark to his wife.


Date of birth: 05/01/1896

Date of death: 04/17/1984

Area of notoriety: Military

Marker Type: Monument

Setting: Outdoor

Fee required?: No

Web site: [Web Link]

Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Not listed

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