WW2 Okinawa Fallen - DSC hero David Clarkson, 7th Infantry Division

Lt. David Clarkson served with the men in this photo taken 2 days before his death. The gravestone erroneously shows 17th Infantry Division which did not exist. It should show 7th Infantry Division.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23036306
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/would-the-u-s-survive-another-battle-of-okinawa 

David B. Clarkson never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on November 26, 1917 in Kansas. His mother Nora and his father David were born in Missouri. His father worked as a farmer and died in 1934. David had one younger brother and two younger sisters. By 1940 his mother had remarried to a drayer. David still lived at home and worked as a laborer. His younger brother enlisted in the army in 1940 and served until the end of the war.

David married Bobbie Ann Sims and they had one daughter (Millie).

David enlisted in the army on September 19, 1942. He became a first lieutenant in Battery A, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. The 7th Infantry Division fought the Japanese in Attu, Alaska in 1943 and Kwajalien and Eniwetok in 1944. It spent three months engaging the enemy in Leyte in 1944-45. 

I am not sure when Lt. Clarkson joined his artillery unit but he was serving when the 7th ID landed on Okinawa on day one of the battle, April 1, 1945. Three weeks later the 7th ID was still fighting, sometimes against an enemy armed with nothing more than sharpened sticks. The Japanese also had plenty of conventional firepower and attempted counter battery fire, when possible, to disable the effective American artillery. Lt. Clarkson was killed in action on April 21, 1945. On his last day of fighting against the Japanese, Lt. Clarkson earned the Distinguished Service Cross for "personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty at the cost of his life."

His grave is at Hill Crest Cemetery in Galena, Kansas. His widow remarried after his death.

Thank you David for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for David.

Thanks to Karleen Estey and Monty McDaniel who found this article about Lt. Clarkson:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155159876986593&set=p.10155159876986593&type=3&theater&ifg=1

On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!

I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.

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