Corbett Ward Clark

Obituary for Major Corbett Ward Clark (U.S. Army, Retired)
Corbett Ward Clark (U.S. Army, Retired), beloved father, grandfather, great grandfather, husband, and friend, of Stone Mountain passed away peacefully in his sleep Friday morning. A native Atlantan, Major Clark was born August 6, 1921, the fourth of five children born to Atlanta policeman Joseph Cullman Clark and Sallie Canup. He had recently celebrated his 93rd birthday with family and friends in his Stone Mountain home.
Major Clark served his country proudly in the Philippine Islands during World War II, earning the Silver Star for Gallantry in Action. After the war he made the Army his career. While serving with the R.O.T.C. at Richmond Academy in Augusta, Georgia, he met his wife Sarah Louise Morgan (Lucy). They married on April 11, 1948, and had 64 wonderful years together until Lucy's death in August 2012. In 1949 Corbett applied for a commission based on his WWII assignments and was soon commissioned. Corbett studied Russian in Germany and worked there as a translator with the 532nd Military Intelligence Battalion and the 316th Military Intelligence Platoon in various locations around Germany from 1952 to 1955. Corbett earned his B.S. in Military History from the University of Maryland on June 7, 1958, while stationed at Fort Meade, Md.
Corbett and Lucy and their three daughters traveled Europe and the United States with the Army before relocating to the Atlanta area, settling outside Decatur. They joined Columbia Presbyterian Church and became active in area organizations. Corbett was an officer in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 5257, Stone Mountain, and was active in Disabled American Veterans, the Gate City Guard, the Atlanta Roundtable, Military Officers Association, Stone Mountain Historical Society, and the Flintridge Garden Club. He was also a long-time Mason. Both he and Lucy were part of a decades-long circle of six couples known as the Dirty Dozen who socialized weekly for over 40 years.
Since his childhood family was most important to Corbett. His favorite past-time was sitting around the fire with his wife, children, grandchildren, and great grands. He is known for his kindness, generosity, positive attitude, unswerving optimism, loving, and selfless. A sweet man to the end, Corbett always thanked people with his trademark-appreciate it. He was thoughtful and genuine. A fighter all of his life, Corbett defied the odds throughout his life, escaping death from a house fire at age two to a grave playground accident a few years later to enemy and friendly fire, to injuries and illnesses, to heart attacks, and more. As hard as it is to lose him in this world, Corbett is in a better place now with his beloved Lucy and other loved ones who went before him.
He taught history and Russian at Gordon and Avondale high schools before returning to work for the Army as a civilian employee. He worked mainly in Civilian Personnel with 3rd Army at Fort McPherson, Georgia, from 1963 until his retirement in 1977. When Corbett was two years old, his family moved to a farm on Forest Road where he grew up, attending Humphrey Elementary and graduating from Fulton High School in 1939. He was forever influenced by his life on the farm and devoted much of his retired life to buying and selling land. He walked the land always looking for what he felt were the prettiest lots to buy.
In high school Corbett won the R.O.T.C. award, and shortly after graduation he joined the 122nd Infantry Regiment of the Georgia National Guard (which had evolved from the Gate City Guard). His career path changed a month later when his unit was redesignated the 179th Field Artillery Regiment. After training at Camp Blanding, Fla.; Camp Shelby, Miss.; Camp Gordon, Ga; and Fort Sill, Okla., the then Staff Sergeant Clark deployed with his unit to the Pacific Theater in August 1944.
They served first in New Guinea. In January 1945, they received orders from General MacArthur's headquarters to embark for combat operations. Their destination turned out to be North Luzon in the Philippine Islands where he served as forward observer with the 694th Field Artillery Battalion. He was awarded the Silver Star for volunteering to go behind enemy lines to obtain the Japanese general's surrender. Over 50,000 Japanese soldiers were still fighting after Japan had officially surrendered. At the meeting, Sergeant Clark also negotiated with the general about how the Japanese soldiers would be transported out of the mountains of North Luzon. The general presented SSG Clark with his white horse. Corbett fulfilled a long-time ambition to write a book about his WWII experiences when he published From Hell to Surrender in 2002, making the finishing touches on it while in cardiac intensive care at Emory Hospital in Atlanta. After receiving letters from school children for Veteran's Day while in the hospital, Corbett (and Lucy) reached out to the students, teacher, and principal, developing a years' long relationship which included letter exchanges, interviews, and school visits.
Additional military units Corbett served with included G2-Intelligence, Fort Bragg, N.C.; Army Security Agency, Fort Meade, Md., and 56th Artillery Group, Fort Bragg, N.C. He finished his Army career as the Recruiting Officer in the Recruiting Main Station in Knoxville, Tenn.
Corbett's life-long passions included history and writing. He was a Civil War and World War II buff and read constantly. His love of writing produced several books. In his later years he was still writing. An avid letter writer, he often wrote five or more letters a day. His life-long tradition of writing poems for special people, events, and occasions culminated in an anthology, Expressions from the Heart.
Major Clark received numerous medals and awards including the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Philippine Independence Medal, Army of Occupation (Germany) Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, and American Campaign Medals for Luzon and New Guinea.
Major Clark is predeceased by his wife Sarah, his parents, his brother Joseph Clark and his sister Margaret Clark Bell. He is survived by his sisters Mildred Clark Sargent of Decatur and Pensacola, Fla. and Inez Clark Nelams Windley of Virginia Beach, Va.; daughters Nancy Lee Clark Cook of Fayetteville, N.C.; Dr. Margaret Ann Clark Fitzgerald (Brian) of Suwannee; Susan Jane Clark Meredith (Mark) of Fayetteville, Ga.; five grandchildren-Michael Brian Fitzgerald (Dovile' Janulionyte) of Atlanta; Jonathan Clark Fitzgerald (Susan Llanes) of Flowery Branch; Joseph Clark Fitzgerald of Suwannee; Jennifer Clark Cook Scott (Christi Heuer) of Durham, N.C., and Kelly Ann Meredith of Fayetteville, Ga.; and eight great grandchildren-Ema Alexandra and Audrey Margaret Fitzgerald; Henry Clark, Miles Morgan, and Harper Jane Fitzgerald; Rosalie Mildred Scott; Corbett Louis and Wallace Hudson Heuer; and many nieces, nephews, and extended family and friends.
The family will have visitation at A.S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home on North Decatur Road, Monday evening, 6-8 p.m. The funeral service will be at Columbia Presbyterian Church on Columbia Drive, Decatur, Tuesday at 11 a.m. Reverend Tom Hagood will officiate. A procession will follow to the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton for a 2 p.m. burial with full military honors.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Columbia Presbyterian Church or the Thornwell Home for Children.


Funeral Home:
A.S. Turner
2773 N. Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033