HOWARD F. CLARK, LTJG, USN

Howard Clark '38

Date of birth: September 15, 1914

Date of death: May 8, 1942

Age: 27

Lucky Bag

From the 1938 Lucky Bag:

HOWARD FRANKLIN CLARK

Salisbury, Maryland

Red, Spud

Spud moved at an early age from Wilmington down to the Eastern Shore. Here, undoubtedly influenced by this famous Maryland weather, he grew sturdily and became the white, or should we say red, hope of his teachers. After working four years, Red moved across the bay to us; his purpose, to become an aviator. Contrary to red-headed tradition, he is reserved and slow -to criticize. Those opinions he forms are invariably right. Study, to him, means boning a Post, Cosmo, or Esquire, or writing letters. Nevertheless, he has always worn stars. Running and dancing attract him the year round, though he is too steady to be a snake. Spud inspires the confidence of men and women alike. He is outstanding for clearheadedness and common sense.

Batt. Track 2, 1; Batt. Cross Country 2, 1; C.P.O.

HOWARD FRANKLIN CLARK

Salisbury, Maryland

Red, Spud

Spud moved at an early age from Wilmington down to the Eastern Shore. Here, undoubtedly influenced by this famous Maryland weather, he grew sturdily and became the white, or should we say red, hope of his teachers. After working four years, Red moved across the bay to us; his purpose, to become an aviator. Contrary to red-headed tradition, he is reserved and slow -to criticize. Those opinions he forms are invariably right. Study, to him, means boning a Post, Cosmo, or Esquire, or writing letters. Nevertheless, he has always worn stars. Running and dancing attract him the year round, though he is too steady to be a snake. Spud inspires the confidence of men and women alike. He is outstanding for clearheadedness and common sense.

Batt. Track 2, 1; Batt. Cross Country 2, 1; C.P.O.

Loss

Howard was a member of Fighting Squadron (VF) 3, flying from USS Lexington (CV 2). On May 8, 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea:

Nearing the task force, [Lieutenant] Gayler ['37, 3rd section leader of VF-3, later recipient of 3 Navy Crosses] was saddened to hear Clark, his second section leader, radio that he was ditching. Lost in the clouds after the melee with the Zuikaku Zeros, Clark was unable to find his way back home. He was never heard from again. Another of the 1938 graduates of the US Naval Academy, "Spud" Clark earned his wings in early 1941 and joined Fighting Three in April of that year. Well liked and able, Clark was another fighter pilot beaten not by the Japanese, but by the weather.

Other Information

His wife was listed as next of kin. Howard has a memory marker in Maryland.

From naval aviation historian Richard Leonard via email on February 9, 2018:

NOTE: Clark was assigned to VF-2 when he was killed, not VF-3. He was one of twelve VF-3 pilots transferred to VF-2 on 12 April 1942. One of the twelve was, indeed, Noel A M Gayler, who became XO of VF-2 with the transfer.

NAS Pensacola attached for HTA flight training, 7/15/1940

NAS Pensacola designated NA # 7079, 1/29/1941

Date of rank LTJG from 1 Jul 1941 USN Register, 6/2/1941

VF-3 USS Lexington (CV-2) DFC, 2/20/1942

VF-3 USS Lexington (CV-2) DFC, 3/10/1942

VF-2 USS Lexington (CV-2) attached, received from VF-3, 4/12/42

VF-2 USS Lexington (CV-2) PH MIA BNR, 5/7/1942

Photographs

The pilots of the U.S. Navy Fighting Squadron 3 (VF-3) in front of a Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter, 5 March 1942. Standing (l-r): Newton H. Mason, Howard F. Clark, Edward R. Sellstrom, Willard E. Eder, Howard L. Johnson, John H. Lackey, Leon W. Haynes, Onia B. Stanley, Jr., Dale W. Peterson, Marion Dufilho, Rolla S. Lemmon. Sitting (l-r): Robert J. Morgan, Albert O. Vorse, Jr., Donald A. Lovelace, John S. “Jimmy” Thach, Noel A.M. Gayler, Edward H. “Butch” O’Hare, Richard M. Rowell.

Distinguished Flying Crosses

Unable to find citations. From navsource.org:

Second from left, back row: LT(JG) Howard F. Clark won a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), February 20, 1942, when he brought down an enemy bomber attempting to attack USS Lexington. During the Battle of the Coral Sea, May 1942, he again and again engaged enemy aircraft, in utter disregard of his own safety, until his Wildcat was shot down. LT(JG) Clark was posthumously awarded a second DFC for his heroism during the battle, and destroyer escort USS Howard F. Clark (DE-533) was named after him.

From The Daily Times on July 7, 1942:

Lieut. Clark was given the Distinguished Flying Cross for his participation in assisting to down five two-engine Japanese bombers when it attacked the Lexington and its accompanying units.

Namesake

USS Howard F. Clark (DE 533) is named for Howard and was sponsored by his widow, Bess.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.