textbarlowclarencelee1947.html

North High School Wall of Honor
Clarence Lee Barlow
Class of June, 1947

Research done by Claradell Shedd, class of 1953. PAGE IN PROGRESS

Clarence Lee Barlow

Clancy graduated from North High in the June, 1947 class. His next of kin was shown as Don Barlow (brother). Clancy was living at 1215 15th Street, Des Moines, IA.

In 1946, Clancy enlisted at the US Recruiting Office in the Old Federal Building located by the Polk County Court House at 5th and Court in Des Moines. At the time of enlistment, Clancy was single with no dependents. Clancy's service number was 627525.

Clarence Lee Barlow

Year	x	Rank/Event	x	Status

August 12, 1946	x	Enlisted US Marines	x	Enlisted at US Recruiting Office in the Old Federal Building located by the Polk County Court House at 5th and Court in Des Moines.
1946	x	US Marines	x	*Train to boot camp to the San Diego Marine Corps Training Center, San Diego, CA
1946	x	US Marines	x	Training in Camp Pendleton, CA. Rifle training. MM Rifle.
1946	x	US Marines/PVT	x	Back to San Diego Marine Corps Training Center, San Diego, CA. Finished training. Graduated as PVT.
1946	x	US Marines/PVT	x	Departed from San Diego, CA on troop transport to Hawaii, the Philippines, and on into China. Always seasick for three days. After three days, I would come of it. Had multiple bouts with sea sickness every time I reboarded the troop transport. Stayed in Tientsin, China (now named Tianjin, China). Was actually stationed at in a very small village about 15 miles outside of Tientsin. The base had originally been a French cavalry base surrounded by a moat which contained no water. Six months. We were there while the Chinese Reds were running Chaing Kai Shek out of the country. 11th Marine Regiment
1946	x	US Marines	x	We had to divide troop complement because of our vast numbers (too many to fit onto one troop transport). Boarded the ship on the coast of China. We had to get onto LST's to reach the troop transport.
1946	x	US Marines	x	To Guam and the Marianas Islands. Was in very remote part of Guam and had to construct all facilities.
1946	x	US Marines	x	Left Guam and went to Pagan Island, Northern Marianas Islands. The Marines had intended to use the islands for maneuvers. Three weeks. We lived on an LST and every day we would form long lines at double arm intervals and walk throughout the islands to detect live ordnance. We found a lot of ordanance and arranged detonation. Every man on the detail was stung by hornets at least 30 times.
1946	x	US Marines/CPL	x	Pagan Island back to Guam. Was in FDC (Fire Direction Control for 11th Marines Artillery Regiment. We spent five days a week all day long running through fire missions to include forward observers giving us coordinates, etc.
1947	x	US Marines	x	Guam back to the United States (San Diego, CA)
April 12, 1948	x	Discharged	x	Released from active duty and discharged in San Diego, CA. Received Ruptured Duck Medal. Joined the Inactive Marine Corps Reserve.
1948	x	Civilian	x	Finished high school.
1948	x	Schooling	x	Grinnell College. One year
1948	x	Employment	x	Massey-Ferguson, Des Moines, IA. One year.
October 2, 1950	x	Recalled	x	Marine Recruiting Office in Des Moines, IA MOS was 360 (Fire Direction Control).
1950	x	US Marine Corps	x	Drove from Des Moines to San Diego, CA (San Diego Marine Corps Training Center). Immediately to **Camp Pendleton. Training at Big Bear, CA for cold weather training. 1st Marine Division. 11th Marine Regiment (artillery). About two months. The call came for candidates for Officers' Training School. I qualified. Went into Gunnery Sergeant's office and told him I was eligible for Officers' Training School. The Sergeant told me "You are needed in Korea. Get out of here!" During the trai
1950	x	US Marine Corps	x	During a liberty weekend, four of us went to visit one of the guy's relatives in Glendale, CA. One of his cousins was named Gail MacDonald. We hit it off. We corresponded. I was the recipient of many packages from Gail.
1950-1951	x	US Marine Corps/ CPL	x	San Diego, CA to Japan to Korea. LST's, jeeps, truck until reached the 11th Marine Regiment. The 11th Marines participated in continued heavy action on the East Central Front throughout 1951, and in March 1952, moved to the Western Front. Yong Dong Po. We were in direct support of the 5th Marine Division.
November 9 , 1951	x	US Marine Corps/CPL	x	Troop transport from Korea to San Diego. Discharged and mustered out in San Diego.
February 20, 1952	x	Civilian	x	Married to Gail MacDonald in Glendale, CA
1952	x	Employment	x	Machine shop. Deliveries all over the Los Angeles area. Painted cars. Worked in accounting office of Studio Girls Cosmetics in Glendale, CA.
1955-1976	x	Employment	x	Los Angeles Police Academy. Graduated. 21 years of patrol officer, special details, robbery/homicide, etc.
1976	x	Employment	x	Retired from Los Angeles Police Department
1976-1995	x	Employment	x	Moved to Three Rivers, CA (the gateway to Sequoia National Park). Designed and manufactured a line of needlework, traveling all over the US at regional shows. 19 years.
1995-1997	x	Employment	x	Raised exotic parrots teaching them the Barlow language
1997	x	Employment	x	Opened a gift store in Three Rivers, CA. Jewelry, coffee mugs, etc. Two years.
1997-1999	x	Employment	x	Owned and operated hardware store. Two years.
1999-Present	x	Retired	x	Purchased an RV and did a lot of traveling all over the country, mostly in the Seattle, WA and Northern Washington State area.

*Train from Des Moines to San Diego:
North High classmates Laverne Lee Davitt, Robert G. Shultz, William Omdahl, and Clarence Lee Barlow all enlisted in the US Marines at the same time and opted to take a civilian train to San Diego. We got to Roswell, NM and something broke down on our train. In the meantime, we had become very friendly with a lot of civilians on that train. One family had a young daughter about our age. When the train broke down, they said an hour off of the train, so we walked out into the street in Roswell and found an old Mexican family with a burro and a tripod with a blanket over his head. We all had our pictures taken with a sombrero and a burro. Time was wasting. We had to run to the train, and, as we approached where we had disembarked, we saw the training disappearing on the horizon. The Marine Corps had already emphasized to us the importance of "Don't be late!" We talked to the trainmaster and he said, "There is another train coming through. It is a military train and it will arrive in San Diego about the same time as the train you were on before." We got onto the train, a troop train full of military recruits, all drinking, smoking, and gambling. It was miserable and very croweded. We were still some place in New Mexico and, as we pulled into the train yard of this small New Mexico town, there sat our original train. It took us about two seconds to decide that we were going to get back onto the first train. We had to go down steps, under tracks and up the other side to get to where that train was. As we got to the top of the steps, that "first" train was going down the tracks again. We starting running, with the people inside cheering and yelling for us to run faster. We barely made it to the loading platform of one of the cars, and we were able to pull one another aboard, midst the cheering of the passengers. We arrived in San Diego on time and were not termed AWOL.

**Camp Pendleton
The Battalion reactivated 1 October 1949 at Camp Pendleton, California, as the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force. It was redesignated 7 July 1950 as the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, Fleet Marine Force. It deployed during August 1950 to Korea , and was redesignated 13 September 1950 as the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force. the unit participated in the Korean War Operating from Pusan Perimeter, Inchon-Seoul, Chosin Reservoir, East Central Front, and Western Front. It participated in the defense of the Korean Demilitarized Zone from July 1953 to February 1955. The Battalion relocated during March 1955 to Camp Pendleton, California.

		left above: Training at Camp Pendleton; left: Grinnell College left below: Enlisted at Federal Building in Des Moines right below: Pagan Island, Marianas

	Clarence Lee Barlow Corporal 1st Marine Division 11th Marine Regiment US Marine Corps
Top Row: World War II Victoryl; National Defense; Korean War Service; China Service; Korean Defense Service; United Nations Service Medal/Korea w/Star; Korean Service Second Row Down: Cold War Victory; Combat Service; USN/USMC Combat Action; Korean Defense Commenorative; Overseas Commemorative Third Row Down: Honorable Service; UN Military Service; American Defense Service; USMC Commemorative Rifle Expert Badge/M-1

References

The comprehensive list of names from North High's 1893-2018 graduation classes are from Claradell Shedd's North Des Moines High School website. The names of all North High School graduates can be found online at http://www.ndmhs.com/. Clarence Lee Barlow's class page can be viewed at
http://www.ndmhs.com/pages/yearclass1947(2007.60).html.

10/03/11: Living in CA

Music: "Semper Fidelis"