HUNTINGDON, Tenn. (AP) — The family of Pvt. William Bernice Clark never had a funeral for him, never got to say goodbye and never really accepted his fate among the fallen during the Normandy D-Day landings in World War II.
That was until a piece a him, his dog tag recently discovered in the sands of Omaha Beach in France, was returned to his native Tennessee yesterday — exactly 63 years after that tragic day.
“This feels like an ending,” said the soldier’s first cousin, 79-year-old Lota Park, who along with another cousin accepted the dog tag at a ceremony in the small town of Huntingdon, about 90 miles west of Nashville.
The tag has blackened with age, but Pvt. Clark’s name, identification number, religion (Protestant) and blood type (Type O) are all clearly visible.
It remained out of sight for more than five decades until a collector from England found it five years ago on the beach, likely near the very spot where the 20-year-old Pvt. Clark was killed. The collector gave the dog tag to a World War II buff from New Jersey, who turned it over to the National D-Day Memorial.
“It’s in pretty remarkable condition considering it was buried in the sand for 58 years,” said National D-Day Memorial director Jeff Fulgham, who presented the tag to Pvt. Clark’s surviving family members.
The D-Day Memorial, based in Bedford, Va., keeps records of nearly every American and Allied soldier killed during the invasion, and it helped locate Pvt. Clark’s family in Huntingdon a couple of months ago.
“I remember the day the soldiers came and told his mother [that Pvt. Clark had died],” Miss Park said. “They never accepted it because there was no proof, no body.”
The family has only a few personal effects from Pvt. Clark: two yellowing photos, a couple of letters during his short service and his Purple Heart. His remains were buried in a cemetery for American soldiers in France.
The return of a small piece of metal has reconnected his family to the young soldier’s life that was cut short.
“We were just like brothers and sisters,” said another first cousin, Ava Smothers, 84.
The collector from New Jersey, Bill Santora, said the dog tag was the most cherished piece in his World War II collection, but he was happy to give it up when the memorial officials told him it could be returned to his family.
“I always wondered who it was,” Mr. Santora said. “I feel more connected to the soldier, a little connected to family, and I think they are going to be happy to have this memento back.”
Pvt. Clark was one of 4,000 American and Allied soldiers killed during intense fighting on D-Day, a crucial turning point in the war. The D-Day Memorial is in Bedford because that town lost 19 soldiers, the highest per capita loss from any single town in the United States.
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