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Buck Sgt. Clarence Leo "Mack" Macklin
United States Army 197th Field Artillery Regiment, F Battery
from:Paola, Kansas
My Dad, my uncles, my first cousin - Thank you all for all you did for our nation in The Darkest Hours!
My dad Clarence Macklin served in WWII with 4 of his brothers and 1 nephew. Dad joined what at the time was the Horse Cavalry of the Kansas National Guard prior to the war in 1938, The Cavalry unit was modernized and changed to Field Artillery just prior to the War in 1940.
In 1941 the unit was activated and took to Camp JT Robinson at Little Rock Arkansas. There in Little Rock, there were signs on the doors of local bars... and places that said "Soldiers and Dogs not allowed" Later his unit would be shipped to Santa Barbara, California where they were on Coastal Battery duty and on a few occasions fired upon Japanese Submarines that had made it to our western shores.
Later his unit was split up and some of the men went to be part of the invasion into North Africa in November 1942 with another Artillery unit, it was Operation Torch.
After the fighting in North Africa was mopped up and the Army units were ready to make the Jump into Sicily. My dad was pulled and sent back to the States because he had rail road experience. The Army needed experienced combat vets with railroad experience to man the troop trains and to keep peace between the returning combat veterans and the civilian population.
My dad spend the rest of the war as an MP on the troop trains while 3 of his brothers and 1 nephew continued fighting the war over seas, and one brother serving in a Navy ammo depot near San Louis Obispo, California.
Dad passed away on the Marine Corps birthday, Nov. 10, 1992 at the VA Hospital in Muskogee, Oklahoma
, All 6 good old Kansas Boys, they all came home. If you know any info on these fine men, please email me.
- Alva Macklin, US Army,
- Jimmy E. Macklin US Army,
- Cecil Macklin US Marine Corp,
- Stanley Macklin US Navy, All brothers,
- Jimmy Eugene Macklin, Nephew
To honor these fine men of my family I have spent 34 yrs in the military, currently a Master Sgt. With the Texas State Guard.
