Eugene F. Clark

Commander Eugene Franklin Clark (18 July 1911 – 26 June 1998) was a U.S. Navy officer.

Military career Clark rose through the enlisted ranks of the Navy from seaman to chief petty officer in the yeoman rating before being commissioned as an officer during World War II. During World War II, Clark participated in the invasion of Okinawa. After the war, Clark commanded LST-865 and , then participated in clandestine operations along the China coast in support of the Nationalist Chinese, before serving as the chief interpreter during war crimes trials on Guam. Clark was serving on General Douglas MacArthur's staff, in the Geographic Branch, at the start of the Korean War. He was living with his wife, Enid, and two children on the outskirts of Tokyo.

Lt. Clark was deployed with bilingual former ROK Navy Lt. Youn Joung and former ROK Army officer Col. Ke In-ju and KLO to reconnoiter the Inchon area before the Inchon Landing. This is known as the Operation Trudy Jackson (:ko:트루디 잭슨 작전). The area was complicated by tides and mudflats up to long. The three were transported from United States Fleet Activities Sasebo on , to a 1 September 1950 rendezvous with ROK Commander Lee Sung Ho's PC-703, southwest of Tokchok-do (Deokjeok Island). Upon landing on Tokchok-do, they quickly learned Yonghung-do (Yeongheung Island) was only occupied by five North Korean troops, with a battalion on Taebu-do. Lee assigned LTJG Paik and ten sailors to help Clark and his men capture Yonghung-do, which they did in short order.

On D-day plus one, a battalion of Marines was deployed to take Taebu-do and Yonghung Do. They stormed the islands only to discover the Communists had already killed over 50 people who had helped Clark, but remained behind on the island. Clark was awarded the Silver Star by the Navy for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" in obtaining "vital intelligence information". Clark was also awarded the Legion of Merit by the Far East Command for "exceptionally meritorious conduct."