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William Clark

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 200th Coast Artillery
  • Location of Service: El Paso, Texas; Clark Field, Bataan (Philippines); Japan; Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/2730

View full service history

"I went down on that march and two angels picked me up." (Audio Interview, 39:09)

William Clark joined the New Mexico National Guard as a 21-year-old who had been working highway construction jobs in New Mexico. It was only a few months before Pearl Harbor, but he knew he was going to be drafted. What he didn't know is that all of the National Guard units would get called into active duty. Clark was actually at Clark Air Field when the Japanese attacked on December 8, 1941;he was manning his 3-inch anti-aircraft gun. Since the war, William Clark has been doing his own research on those two initial Japanese attacks, and he is concerned that none of the top brass were demoted or punished in any way. After the Philippines surrendered, William Clark spent the next 1,248 days as a Prisoner of War, including 33 months in Japan.

William Burton Clark Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • William Burton Clark Collection

Names

  • Lugar, Richard
  • Clark, William Burton
  • Ordner, Larry
  • U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar

Home State

  • Indiana

Headings

  • -  Clark, William Burton
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.
  • -  Prisoner of War -- United States

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 200th Coast Artillery
    • Location of Service: El Paso, Texas; Clark Field, Bataan (Philippines); Japan; Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1941-1946
    • Prisoner of War: Yes
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran worked with anti-aircraft artillery. He was held as a prisoner of war (POW) for 1,228 days in the Philippines and Japan and was on the Bataan Death March.

Materials

  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2002-09-08; 2005-10-11)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2002-09-08)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2002-09-08; 2005-04-11)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2002-09-08)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [1 item] -- Portrait (collected 2002-09-08)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/2730

Cite as

  • William Burton Clark Collection (AFC/2001/001/2730), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image
  • online text

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Lugar, Richard, William Burton Clark, Larry Ordner, and U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar. William Burton Clark Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02730/.

APA citation style:

Lugar, R., Clark, W. B., Ordner, L. & U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar. (1941) William Burton Clark Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02730/.

MLA citation style:

Lugar, Richard, et al. William Burton Clark Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02730/>.