Long-lost remains of local soldier to return home Wednesday
-
1 of 2By Courtesy Bakersfield High School
Roosevelt Clark attended Bakersfield High School from the fall of 1947 to April of 1950, when he dropped out and joined the Army his junior year. He graduated from Mountain View School in 1947. His father, Willie Clark, was an agriculture worker. This picture comes from his high school transcript.
click to collapse -
2 of 2In this undated photo, Roosevelt Clark's father, Willie Clark, poses in front of a portrait of his lost son. This portrait of Roosevelt Clark, who was reported missing in action during the Korean War in 1950, was displayed in his parents' home for years.
click to collapse
BY STEVEN MAYER Californian staff writer smayer@bakersfield.com
Sixty-two years after he was lost to the fire of war, the remains of Roosevelt Clark are finally coming home this week.
Clark, a Bakersfield High School football player who grew up in Arvin, was just 18 when he was declared missing in action following a terrible battle on Nov. 25, 1950.
That's when American forces, including Clark's 35th Infantry Regiment were overwhelmed as elements of the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces attacked allied positions in North Korea.
For decades, Clark's physical remains were lost to his comrades, his country, his family. Those physical remains were only recently identified through DNA analysis.
On Wednesday, Clark will be flown, with full military escort and honors, to Los Angeles International Airport. From there he will be carried by hearse to Hillcrest Mortuary in Bakersfield, escorted by Patriot Guard Riders from Southern California and Kern County.
Army Lt. Jennifer Thurston, a casualty assistance officer and one of those expected to accompany the procession into Bakersfield, said the group is projected to arrive at Hillcrest on Kern Canyon Road at about 9 a.m., but that time is not firm.
"I will be following the hearse in another vehicle," she said. "I will also be acting as aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. Sylvia Crockett."
Gen. Crockett is expected to attend Clark's funeral at 11 a.m. Friday at People's Missionary Baptist Church, 1451 Madison St., in southeast Bakersfield. She will also present awards to surviving members of Clark's family.
The public is invited.
Following the memorial service, Clark's remains will be taken to Hillcrest Cemetery, where honors will be rendered, flags presented to the family and Clark will be laid to rest -- a rest that is much deserved and long overdue.
Kern County resident Larry Gillette, assistant state captain with the Patriot Guard Riders, said he and others in the guard want to honor and pay their respects to members of the Armed Forces, especially those who have paid the ultimate price.
And Clark's case is as compelling as thay come.
"How often does this happen?" he said. "How often do you have the chance to participate in something like this?"
Indeed, when one looks at the old yellowing photograph of Clark as a fresh-faced high school student, it's hard to imagine that, if he were alive today, he would be 80 years old.
David Jackson, commander of the Kern County chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, said he's not sure how many people will be at Hillcrest when the procession arrives. But he will be there, he said, with other military veterans and anyone else who believes their presence there is warranted.
Knowing Bakersfield, the number could be significant.
"No fallen serviceman should come home without someone there to receive him and honor him," Jackson said.
Most CommentedMost Popular
The family of David Silva announced Friday it has filed its long-expected federal civil rights claims against the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, six sheriff’s deputies and a sergeant, two California Highway Patrol officers, the county and the state alleging excessive police force killed him.
A 25-year-old man who died in Kern County sheriff’s custody Monday night had two plastic baggies with illegal drugs stuffed in his throat, the department reported.
He’s Dr. Merle Haggard now. The bad-boy hero of the rebel strain of music that put Bakersfield on America’s cultural map half a century ago did something Friday he hadn’t done since he was 9: He sat still in school.
SACRAMENTO -- The California High-Speed Rail Authority won approval Thursday from a federal railroad oversight board to start construction this summer on the first leg of what would be the nation's first bullet train.
A Bakersfield attorney’s rocky marriage, marked by a divorce suit and a history of loud, public arguments, reportedly erupted into violence early Wednesday morning when police say he turned a gun on his wife and fired.
A woman found dead in a southeast Bakersfield garage Tuesday was identified Friday as 18-year-old Mia Ramirez of Bakersfield.
After a search that lasted much of Tuesday afternoon, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man on suspicion of homicide in connection with the discovery of a woman’s body in a southeast Bakersfield garage.
A 25-year-old man who died in Kern County sheriff’s custody Monday night had two plastic baggies with illegal drugs stuffed in his throat, the department reported.