Mark Clark Signed Letter as President Emeritus of The Citadel

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Mark W. Clark

TLS 7.75"’ x 10.25" October 31, 1968

The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina File Military

TUCODD

An American general during World War II and the Korean War, Mark W. Clark was the youngest lieutenant general (three-star general) in the United States Army.

President Emeritus of the Citadel Mark W. Clark TLS

1pp TLS on Strathmore watermarked paper on "The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, S.C.? letterhead signed by four-star U.S. Army General Mark W. Clark as "Mark W. Clark" in blue pen at center. Cream-colored stationery has cobalt blue Citadel logo at bottom depicting crossed sword and plumed pen. In near fine condition, with expected horizontal paper folds and one minor diagonal crease in bottom left corner. Measuring 7.75" × 10.25".

On October 31, 1968, President Emeritus of the Citadel Mark Clark sent an autograph to Lt. Grady McBride of Ft. Lee, Virginia. McBride might have been a Citadel alumna or an admirer of Clark’s impressive thirty-six-year-long military record.

Ft. Lee, a U.S. army post, headquarters, and training facility, was located four hundred miles to the north of the Citadel and Clark’s home in Charleston.

Mark W. Clark (1896-1984), the youngest four-star general in active service during World War II, began his military training as West Point cadet. Clark was wounded in World War I, served as an instructor and staff officer during the interwar years, and was rapidly promoted during World War II. Clark commanded the Fifth Army tasked with liberating central Italy. His "race to Rome" delivered the symbolically important city, but also permitted the Nazis to escape the peninsula. Clark assumed United Nations command and led an intelligence task force during the Korean War. After retiring from the U.S. Army, Clark served as President of the Citadel, the Charleston college and military academy established in 1842, between 1954 and 1965. Clark died sixteen years after writing this letter, at age 88.

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