The Herbert and Ivah Blair Clark Family: Bad Luck in Southeast Missouri

Charles Herbert Clark and Ivah Frances Blair Clark were my husband's great grandparents. Like many families during the depression, they moved from a rural community to a more urban one. 

In their case, they went from southeastern Missouri to St. Louis, Missouri. 

They lost two sons in World War II, which led to the U.S. Marines sending their youngest son, Frank, to a safer place to spend the remainder of his military service. Before that, Frank was a radio operator at Iwo Jima, and you can hear him tell part of his story if you ever visit the
Missouri Soldier's Memorial in St. Louis.
There is an interactive video display.

Fox 2 News in St. Louis interviewed Frank a couple of years ago. The video is HERE.  There is more to his story from KSDK News HERE. Last year, Frank got to throw the first pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals Game. You can see that fun time HERE.

Frank is the youngest child of Herbert and Ivah. He was born in 1926.
Today I want to tell a bit about those early years, before Frank was born.
Since this week's theme is "Luck," I decided to highlight some of the bad luck 

the Clark family had in Pemiscot County, Missouri, deep in the "bootheel."