503684 Merl Clark US Navy Merl Clark had a 20-year career in the US Navy and was a WWII Veteran where he received 13 battle star citations and 5 personal citations from the Navy. Six of those twenty years were served on the USS Boise CL47. The USS Boise was part of the Pacific fleet and during his tenure with the ship, Mr. Clark participated in The Battle of Cape Esperance (sunk 4 ships), the Battle of Guadalcanel, The Lone Tokoyo Raid; and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Mr. Clark was aboard the US Boise during the Lingayen Gulf Landing (Philippines) with General McArthur aboard.
During his Navy career, Mr. Clark was the commanding officer of approximately eight different LCU, a recruiter, deep sea diver, and an instructor for boot camp. He received six letters of commendation for his service (one for citing the enemy during WWII as a gunner on the Boise and another for attaching a coaxial cable on the enemy’s submarine). He was also awarded “Outstanding Chief” of an LCU during his tenure. Overseas ports of call included: Sicily, Gibraltar, New Guinea, Portugal, Panama, most major Pacific Isles, Sidney Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, West Indies, Bombay India, Colombo Ceylon, Brunei Bay Borneo, Athens, Korea, Naples, Algiers, Plymouth and Cannes France to name a few. He participated in two fleet campaigns and was in Torino the day that Sicily surrendered and took 700 commandos as prisoners. When he was not on an ocean campaign, he spent most of his Navy career in Navy bases located in Virginia and California.
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