LaVerne E. Clarke

Clarke, LaVerne E.

Armstrong, Donald
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Laverne E. Clarke

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Photo of Laverne E. ClarkeLaverne E. Clarke was born on October 21, 1921, at Madison, South Dakota, to Mr. and Mrs. Earl Clarke.Laverne, his brother, Douglas, and their parents later moved to Roswell, South Dakota, in Miner County, where Laverne went to school and graduated from Fedora High School in 1940.

Laverne entered the service on October 26, 1942, at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.He was promoted to a sergeant in the Army Air Force by successfully completing his gunnery training at the Army air base at Tyndall Field, near Panama City, Florida.Then he was stationed at Lowrey Field, Denver, Colorado; Salt Lake City, Utah; Pyote, Texas; Dyersburg, Tennessee; and Grand Island, Nebraska.

Laverne E. Clarke was then sent overseas, serving as a Flying Fortress aerial gunner, and stationed somewhere in England.Sgt.Clarke had flown just one mission and was performing his second when his plane was declared missing.

Army Air Corps Sgt.Laverne Clark's plane was shot down and crashed into the English Channel, while flying back from a mission over Germany on November 5, 1943.A memorial service was later held in his hometown of Roswell.

The second message that the family received from the War Department contained the following information:

Since your son, Sgt.
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As tail gunner in a plane badly smashed in the tail section, Laverne Clarke is thought to have still been in the plane when it crashed, presumably, into the English Channel.

Wall of Remembrance tile by Spearfish Middle School studentThis entry was respectfully submitted by Kaysie Tope, 8th Grade West, Spearfish Middle School, Spearfish, South Dakota, November 13, 2000.Alice Peterson, Fedora, South Dakota, first cousin of Army Sgt.Laverne E. Clarke, provided newspaper clippings and information for this entry.