Albert Clark Obituary

Albert P. Clark died on March 8, 2010 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Services will be held at the Air Force Academy Cadet Catholic Chapel on Wednesday, March 17, 2010, at 10:00 a.m., followed by burial in the Academy Cemetery. A reception will be held afterwards at the Air Force Academy Officers Club. General Clark was born at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii on 27 August,1913. His father, Albert P. Clark, was a Colonel in the US Army Medical Corps. His mother was Mary Catherine Gannon Clark. Both parents were born and raised in Washington, D.C. General Clark's father served on General Pershing's staff in France in World War I. Albert, whose lifelong nickname was "Bub" graduated from Main Ave. High School in San Antonio, Texas in 1931 and after studies at Columbia Preparatory School in Washington, DC, he entered West Point in 1932. He was appointed from the District of Columbia and graduated in 1936. Clark graduated as a pilot from The Army Flying School in early October, 1937 and married Carolyn Pierpont Wilbourn on October 8, 1937. Carolyn's father, Colonel Arthur E. Wilbourn, was a graduate of West Point in the class of 1908. On July 26 1942 Gen. Clark was shot down in combat over France flying a Spitfire with the RAF. He was taken prisoner by the Germans and held in Stalag Luft III for the duration of the War. During his thirty-three months of imprisonment, he directed security activities in preparation for “The Great Escape.� He has written of his experiences as a POW in a book entitled, “33 Months in Stalag Luft III: A World War II Airman Tells His Story.� General Clark was liberated from the camp at Mooseburg in Bavaria on April 29, 1945. After the war he served in various staff and command positions and was a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College, and the National War College. He commanded the 48th Fighter-Bomber Wing in France and was promoted to Brigadier General in 1956. He commanded the US Military Training Mission in Saudi Arabia and the 313th Air Division in Okinawa. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1965 and served as the Vice Commander of the Tactical Air Command, Commander of the Air University and as Superintendent of the Air Force Academy, retiring on 31 July 1974. His decorations include the US Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Air Medal and various service medals. Gen. Clark and his wife, Carolyn, made their retirement home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. After retirement Gen. Clark served on the Board of the US Olympic Committee, the National Board of the Boy Scout of America, as President of the Pikes Peak Council of the Boy Scouts, as the Secretary of the Falcon Foundation, and as the President of The Friends of the Air Force Academy Library. Gen. Clark's wife died in 2002, and his son, Albert P. Clark, Jr., died in 2005. He is survived by two daughters, Carolyn Clark Miller of Alexandria, Virginia; Mary Gannon Walker of Kansas City, Missouri, eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. Memorial donations, in lieu of flowers, may be addressed to The Friends Of the Air Force Academy Library, Box 188, Air Force Academy, Colorado 80840, or the American Red Cross.