This week we celebrate Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor those who have sacrificed so much and, in some cases, their very life for our freedom. I would like to honor one such veteran, his name is James Lawrence Clark. James Clark was a brother to Margaret Clark who you may remember was a character in one of my stories. Their parents who lived on Wheat Ridge near Unity were Andrew and Susan (McCoy) Clark. Andrew and Susan died just a few weeks apart in 1909 leaving their nine children to be farmed out to relatives.
James was born on the Feb 26, 1899, on a farm near Tranquility, in Scott Twp., in Adams County, Ohio. He was just nine years old at the time of his parents’ death in 1909. In 1910, James was living with his uncle James and aunt Mary McCoy on a farm near Tranquility. James McCoy was the brother of James Lawrence Clark’s mother, Susan (McCoy} Clark. James and Mary McCoy had two children, Maggie age nine and William age 1. The McCoy family lived near Tranquility where James farmed for a living. James and Mary McCoy took little nine-year-old James in and raised him as their own. Times were tough but everybody worked hard and there was plenty of love to go around. James was an exceptional student and thrived on learning even though he and Maggie had to walk three miles to and from school each day.
However, in 1917, just 11 days after the United States entered the first World War, James left to enlist in the Marine Corps. James completed basic training on Paris Island, South Carolina and upon completion was immediately shipped overseas. By the time he should have received his high school diploma, he was already in France with the American Expeditionary Forces, under General John J. Pershing. James was with the famous “Fighting Fourth” Brigade as they lead the Allied Armies in decisive battles, culminating in the break-through at Belleau Wood, where historians declare “the tide was turned.” It was also here that the Germans declared that those Marines fought like “teufelhunde!” which means “devil dogs”.
On June 6, 1918, his division surrounded, he was dispatched back to the rear guard with an SOS. “Help, we have been cut off and we’re surrounded by Germans!” Gravely wounded, and in spite of the heavy loss of blood from those wounds, he crawled on his belly over 2 kilometers (one & a quarter miles) through enemy territory to deliver the message for help. For gallantry in
action, bravery under fire, despite severe wounds and the ability to deliver the message thus saving the lives of his fellow marines and the day for France, James was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, The Victory Medal, The Good Conduct Medal and the Purple Heart. The Commander of the French Armies decorated him with the French “Croix de Guerre” with the Silver Star for his courageous exploits. The French Republic named him Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor, the highest honor bestowed by France on foreign nationals.
James spent six months in the hospital recovering from the wounds he received at the hand of the Germans. Upon his return home to the state of Ohio, then-Governor Harry C. Davis made him a Brevet Captain in the Ohio National Guard for his bold acts of heroism.
James’s older brother Samuel Ralph Clark, was born in 1896. In 1910, a year after both his parents died, Sam, age 13, was living with a family by the name of Montgomery and worked as a hired hand. Sam at age 22 joined the army. On Sep 12, 1918, three months after his brother’s heroic act he was killed during the first day of the St. Mihiel Drive. Sam is buried in the Unity cemetery in Adams Co., Ohio. Another brother, John Andrew Clark also died in 1918 and is buried in Unity.
After the war, James worked his way through Ohio State University, earning a degree in agriculture. While at OSU, he helped found the “Zero Hour Club” for disabled WWI veterans – to promote patriotism and loyalty to their Country. In his senior year he was selected to lay the wreath at the dedication of Ohio Stadium in 1922.
After he completed five years of college James taught in public education in Medina, Morrow, and Jackson Counties, ending his 26-year career as Superintendent of Rio Grande Schools in Gallia County, Ohio. He went on to a second career as an examiner for Auditor of State, Jim Rhodes, auditing public accounts for another 15 years.
James married on August 1, 1927, to Sadie “Beatrice” Wilcox. They had one daughter Anne who married John Foltz and lived in Columbus, Ohio. John and Anne had one son, Dr. John Clark Foltz. James and Beatrice were active in the Methodist Church and James helped found Camp Francis Asbury in Gallia County, Ohio.
Beatrice died in 1985 at the age of 82. James died on March 29, 1999 at the age of 100 at the Hill View Retirement Center in Portsmouth, Ohio. James is buried in the Vinton Memorial cemetery, Gallia County, Ohio.
Thank you, James Lawrence Clark for your service, your acts of heroism and patriotism to keep our country free! You are a true hero! We salute you and speak God’s blessings upon your family!