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Howard Franklin Clark
Born (1914-09-15)September 15, 1914
Died May 8, 1942(1942-05-08) (aged 27)
Place of birth Wilmington, Delaware
Place of death at sea Coral Sea
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Navy
Years of service 1938-1942
Rank Lieutenant (j.g.)
Unit Fighter Squadron 3
Lexington (CV-2)
Battles/wars World War II
*Battle of the Coral Sea
Awards Distinguished Flying Cross
(awarded twice)

Howard Franklin Clark was born in Wilmington, Delaware, 15 September 1914.

Navy career[]

Clark graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy 2 June 1938. He served at sea until 1940, when he underwent flight training. Reporting to aircraft carrier Lexington (CV-2) 1 April 1941 as a member of Fighter Squadron 3, he won a Distinguished Flying Cross 20 February 1942 when he brought down an enemy bomber attempting to attack the carrier.

Awarded second Distinguished Flying Cross[]

During the Battle of the Coral Sea, Clark again and again engaged enemy aircraft, in utter disregard of his own safety, until his plane was shot down. Lieutenant (j.g.) Clark was posthumously awarded a second Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism during the battle, 7–8 May 1942.

Namesake[]

Howard F. Clark (DE-533) was launched by the Boston Navy Yard 8 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Howard Clark, widow of the namesake; and commissioned at Boston 25 May 1944, Lt. Comdr. E. B. Hayden in command.

References[]

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Howard Franklin Clark and the edit history here.