Leslie Ewing Clark (1913 - 1944)

War Department Letter

As I sat writing my draft prior to typing this, I noted all I know of Uncle Les. You see I never met him. He died in World War II, 14 years prior to my birth. Our family kept Uncle Les in our hearts all our lives. Even now, 68 years after his death he is still remembered as we share the stories with the present generations.

Gold Star

Leslie Ewing Clark son of David James and Martha Matilda (Hanson) Clark was born in Sicklerville, New Jersey. He was one of 10 children. He was my grandfather’s brother. From the stories we were told Uncle Les tried to enlist in the Navy and was then drafted into the Army. What may have prompted this is the death of his only child at a young age.

Uncle Les picture that hung in my grandparents parlor that now hangs in mine

I remember as a young child visiting my grandparents with my siblings and cousins. We would always ask about the picture of the man in uniform that hung in the parlor. I can never remember a time when our grandparents did not stop what they were doing to tell us of Uncle Les and the sacrifice he made for country, home and family. We still celebrate Uncle Les’ birthday.

We were told the stories about when they were young and living on a farm. Their father David had wanted to try his hand at farming and his father had helped him purchase one. In 1911, they moved from Philadelphia to Sicklersville, New Jersey where Andrew, Leslie and Margaret were born. In 1916, they returned to Philadelphia. When their father died in 1919, ‘PopPop’, at 15, became the man of the house. Les was 6 with siblings both younger and older. The family stayed together through all the struggles that came with life in the 1920s’.

Letter to nephews and nieces.

Uncle Les has a big heart and loves children. Note, I use present tense as in a sense he is still with us. I have the many letters he wrote to my grandparents when he went in the army and have read them all. There are even individual sections written to my father, aunts and uncles. His love for children is quite evident in his letters as he referred to them as his kids.

nephews and nieces.

Through the stories we were told of Uncle Les many of the younger generations were influenced to serve. Les’ younger brothers William and John Paulie served in the Navy during WWII. My father John and his brother Robert both enlisted in the Navy and served in the time of the Korean War. Our cousin Leslie Ewing Clark, named for Uncle Les, served in the Marine Corps, his brothers served in the Army. My brother Joe and my cousin Robert served in the Army, and two of my sons, Raymond in the Navy and Clif in the Army.

Letter.

Uncle Les is my hero for more than the sacrifice he made; I used those many letters I previously mention to search out all the information I could find about Uncle Les. All those letters helped in my researching our family history to document it all for the present and future generations. I have shared these with the family and found that his name is on the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC.^[1]

Leslie Clark WWII Memorial.

We come from a long line that has served in the United States Military back to the Revolutionary War with Captain Joseph Mendenhall the “Fighting Quaker”. Samuel Bernham McClennen Hanson my Third Great Grandfather whose brother Warrick was KIA, and also his father and brothers fought in the Civil War. An uncle, Alex Clark served in WWI in the Army. These are just a few. This history was unknown to us until I started my research using Uncle Les’ letters as a starting point.

pretty, purple, heart-shaped pin.

When my cousin Dawn and I were children we loved to touch a pretty, purple, heart-shaped pin at our grandparents’ and got into trouble several times. We knew it was Uncle Les’ but were too young to understand the significance of it.

My grandfather gave each of his children items that belonged to Uncle Les. I have the flag that draped his coffin; it was given to my father. Dawn has the letter that came with the pretty pin along with the pin in its box.

I mentioned my research in this writing since if it were not for the letters I would not have made the most important of all the discoveries. That neither my uncle nor our family knew he had another son. While researching on Ancestry com and connecting with other member's, comparing what we knew and what facts we share I was told of James existence. We are now reconnecting with that son and his family to share our knowledge of his father and all our family.

So you see even after the sacrifice he made for Our Country, he is still here helping his family.

Jacqueline E Clark-Jones 18 JUN 2012

The family story on Uncle Les' name he was named for Dr. Leslie Ewing the doctor who delivered him. After his fathers death he and his siblings were baptizd in St David´s Episcopal Church with :Godparents: Ellen C (Hanson) Radabaugh, Ellen Cecelia Clark in February of 1920 ^[2] it is unclear if they were baptized prior to this in another church.

ClarkKennedy

He and Betty married in St David´s Episcopal Church on January 18, 1935 (Betty is listed as age 18 when she was only 15) in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania^[3]. They seperated and divorced prior to 1943.^[4]

Leslie Clark Obituary 1944

Uncle Les is brought home

Leslie Ewing Clark

He is buried in the Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly,Burlington County New Jersey, USA, Leslies remains were brought home after the war and reinterred. He was originally interred at Henry Chapelle, Belgium and the reinterred on April 23, 1948^[5][6]

Mendenhall Person: I89547

Census

1915 Winslow Township, Camden, New Jersey, United States ^[7]

1920 Canton St Philadelphia Ward 21, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States^[8]

1930 Stella Ave Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ http://www.wwiimemorial.com/Registry/plaque_wardept.aspx?honoreeID=1340539
2. ↑ Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.Original data: Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records
3. ↑ Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.Original data: Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records
4. ↑ "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMV3-SR9 : 5 December 2014), Leslie E Clark, enlisted 29 Sep 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 126323, National Archives at College Park, Maryland..
5. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #495244
6. ↑ United States. Army. Quartermaster General’s Office. Rosters of World War II Dead (all services). Washington, D.C.:
7. ↑ "New Jersey State Census, 1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV93-VVKB : 15 March 2018), Leslie E Clark in household of David J Clark, Winslow Township, Camden, New Jersey, United States; citing sheet #28B, household 647, line #85, New Jersey State Library, Trenton; FHL microfilm 1,465,511.
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNMJ-G1L : 14 December 2015), Leslie Clark in household of Martha Clark, Philadelphia Ward 21, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; citing sheet 13B, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,821,617.
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH7B-QX6 : 25 November 2015), Lislie Clark in entry for John Clark, 1930..