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BKR3c Malcolm Clark
Malcolm Clark at age 24 was the oldest of three men on the U.S.S. Arizona from Pollock, Louisiana, population 317. All three died in the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Wilburn Carle Roberts, a fellow baker and petty officer third class, was 21, and John William Whitaker Jr., a seaman first class, was 19.
Mr. Clark was born in Pollock in central Louisiana on July 27, 1917. His father, John Clark, died when the boy was seven. The son completed at least 11th grade at the high school in Pollock and in the 1940 Census was listed as a carpenter living with his mother, Ollie Phillips Clark, and a brother. He earned $500 in 1939, the Census said.
He also served in the Civilian Conservation Corps. The CCC, as it was known, employed single men 18 to 25 to plant trees, build roads and trails and make other improvements to public land, forests and parks. The men lived at camps across the country and were provided a bed and three meals a day. Of their $30 monthly pay, $25 was sent to their families.
After enlisting in the Navy in August 1940, Mr. Clark was assigned to the Arizona in October, nine days after Mr. Roberts and just over a month after Mr. Whitaker. He was promoted from seaman second class to baker third class in September 1941.
There is a cenotaph in Mr. Clark’s memory at Pollock Cemetery. His father and an infant brother are buried there.
Soon after his death, Malcolm’s mother applied for his military death gratuity. Her application offers insight into the difficult financial straights the family was in during the Great Depression. She said she earned $36 a month as a seamstress and renting rooms at her home. During his time in the Navy Malcolm had sent about $500 to help her and a younger sister. It isn’t clear from publicly available records whether she received the death payment.
Sources: Louisiana death index, The Times of Shreveport, The Town Talk of Alexandria, Navy enlistment records and muster rolls; Census. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.