ISBN: 0-88739-307-1
188 pp.
Size: 6 x 9
Pub Date: 6/2001
Paperback Original
Price: $13.95
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Pieces from My Mind
The Compelling True Story of a Black Man in a White Man's Navy During WWII
Carl E. Clark
A Journey in Black American History
After enthusiastically joining the Navy with the hope of becoming an electrician, Carl Clark was told that black sailors could only be mess attendants, those sailors who served and cleaned up after the white officers. Threatened with a court-martial and possible prison time if he refused, Clark had no choice but to comply. Thus began a twenty-two-year career, in which he saw much of the world, earned promotions and commendations, and was awarded a Purple Heart for his courage on the USS Aaron Ward, the World War II destroyer.
In this memoir, Clark writes not only of his experiences growing up poor during the lean Depression years, but also of his struggles as an African American sailor during a time of extreme racial segregation in the armed forces, and of his fellow black sailors, given the most hazardous duties aboard ship, who died heroically for a country that treated them so unfairly.
"One Saturday morning during formation there was to be a ceremony in which I would formally be awarded my Purple Heart for the broken shoulder I received on the Aaron Ward. The young officers were mumbling about their discontent with having to attend a ceremony in which a black sailor was receiving a medal. The commanding officer stopped it by saying 'This Saturday's shore leave might possibly be delayed.' With that, the formation came to attention and the ceremony was concluded without a hitch. Here I was a ten-year veteran of the Navy being awarded a Purple Heart for being wounded in combat, and because I was a black steward, the commanding officer had to threaten the white officers with delayed shore leave in order for me to get the respect I was entitled to."
Review: "Carl E. Clark has a lifetime of stories to tell. A teenager when he joined the US Navy in 1936, he was stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 when Japanese planes attacked. He served in the Pacific during World War II, but as an African American, he suffered the indignities of a segregated military."
-Senior Journal, San Mateo Times
Bio: CARL E. CLARK is active in civic and church affairs and has lectured at universities about his Naval experiences. Retired, spends his time painting and gardening.
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