Thomas John Clark

In the invasion of Iwo Jima, the Fourth Marine Division was charged with landing on and securing the Yellow and Blue Beaches – the right of the Marine line, anchoring on the Quarry. Lieutenant Colonel Justice Chambers and the Third Battalion, 25th Marines would be first ashore on Beach Blue 2 and would immediately pivot to the right, attacking strong Japanese fortifications in the Quarry and the Boat Basin. Tough going was anticipated, but nothing could have prepared BLT 3-25 for what awaited them on the beach. In the struggle to reach the Quarry, the battalion lost 22 officers and approximately 500 men killed, wounded, or missing – all in a single day’s fight.

Navy corpsmen, as usual, were right up front with the leading units and also suffered heavily. Hospital Apprentice First Class Thomas Clark was among those lost on the first day ashore – he simply disappeared and was never seen again. The casualty rate was so high that battalion muster rolls became confused and carried Clark as present for duty through April 1945. The mistake was corrected in May, and Clark’s files were transferred to the Bureau of Personnel for further action.

Nothing else is currently known about Corpsman Clark’s fate. He was ultimately declared dead on 20 February 1946.