The U.S. military usually honors its best and bravest, but not always. Sometimes the failure to do so is a case of oversight that arises from the confusion of combat or from bureaucratic oversight. Less frequently, the failure to honor a noteworthy deed is purposeful, the result of prejudice rooted in social mores of the time. The latter certainly seems to be true in the case of Steward First Class Carl Clark a World War II Navy veteran.
Clark, 95, was honored earlier this week for heroism on May 3, 1945, when he served aboard the USS Aaron Ward off the coast of Okinawa. Clark, according to eyewitnesses, saved his ship and hundreds of his shipmates when he risked his life to douse fires that threatened his ship’s ammunition locker. If the blaze had reached the locker, the ship would have been destroyed.
Several of Clark’s shipmates were decorated for their deeds that day, Clark was not. The reason: He is black, and the Navy, a very segregated service during the war, was reluctant to publicly honor a member of his race. “Racism robbed Carl of recognition,” said U.S. Rep. Anna Esho, D-Calif., who urged the Navy to right that wrong.
The Navy finally did so. Secretary of the Navy Roy Mabus personally presented the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with the Combat Distinguishing Device to Clark, who was wearing his old uniform. “Simply put,” Mabus said, “Clark was and is a hero.” How true.
Clark joined the Navy when the only job available to him was as a steward. “Taking care of officers, feeding them their meals, cleaning their rooms, shining their shoes,” Clark recalled. Clark didn’t say it but all the officers he served were white. When a ship was attacked, though, stewards were expected to man a battle station. Clark answered that call.