Biography
Mark Wayne Clark (May 1, 1896 – April 17, 1984) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He was the youngest four-star general in the US Army during World War II.
During World War I, he was a company commander and served in France in 1918, as a 22-year-old captain, where he was seriously wounded by shrapnel. After the war, the future US Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, noticed Clark's abilities. During World War II, he commanded the United States Fifth Army, and later the 15th Army Group, in the Italian campaign. He is known for leading the Fifth Army when it captured Rome in June 1944, around the same time as the Normandy landings.
Clark has been heavily criticized for ignoring the orders of his superior officer, British General Sir Harold Alexander, commanding the Allied Armies in Italy (AAI), and for allowing the German 10th Army to slip away, in his drive to take Rome, the capital of Italy but not strategically important. Clark ordered Lucian Truscott, commanding U.S. VI Corps, to select Operation Turtle (moving towards Rome) rather than Operation Buffalo (moving to cut Route 6 at Valmontone), which Alexander had ordered. Clark had, however, left Operation Turtle as an option if Operation Buffalo ran into difficulty. The German 10th Army then joined the rest of the German army group at the Trasimene Line. Clarke's failure to follow orders and the perceived waste of lives as a result led correspondent Alan Whicker to observe; "if he had been German, Hitler would have had him shot".
On March 10, 1945, at the age of 48, Clark became one of the youngest American officers promoted to the rank of four-star general. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a close friend, considered Clark to be a brilliant staff officer and trainer of men.Throughout his thirty-six years of military service, Clark was awarded many medals, the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), the US Army's second-highest award, being the most notable.
A legacy of the "Clark Task Force," which he led from 1953 to 1955 to review and to make recommendations on all federal intelligence activities, is the term "intelligence community." Biography portal
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Filmography
all 10
self 9
Movies 7
TV Shows 3
Narrator 1
PAN MUN JOM, You have never seen (2021)
Battle for Cassino (1969)
Les Grandes batailles (1966)
I Was an American Spy (1951)
Crusade in Europe (1949)
San Pietro (1945)
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1896-05-01
Deathday1984-04-17 (87 years old)
Birth PlaceMadison Barracks, New York, U.S
ChildrenWilliam Doran Clark
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
Also Known AsMark Wayne Clark
Awardshonorary doctor of the University of Vienna, Grand Officer of the Order of the Southern Cross, Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari, Order of Suvorov, 1st class, Grand cross of the Order of the White Lion, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, Legionnaire of Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Medal of Military Valour, Distinguished Service Cross, Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown, Grand Cross of the Order of Wissam El Alaouite, Knight Grand Cross of the Military Order of Savoy, Military Order of Italy, Silver Medal of Military Valour, World War I Victory Medal, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, Army of Occupation Medal, Army of Occupation of Germany Medal, American Defense Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Order of Ouissam Alaouite, Purple Heart, United Nations Korea Medal, Order of Military Merit, Korean Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal
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Mark W. Clark- Filmography
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