SHSMO Center for Missouri Studies
605 Elm St.
Columbia, Mo.
Join us in honoring Colonel John W. Clark (USAF. Ret.) with a conversation chronicling the Columbia native and MU graduate’s inspirational journey as a Prisoner of War in the infamous Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War. Colonel Clark’s Phantom II jet was shot down during a reconnaissance flight on March 12, 1967. For the next six years – 2,176 days – the North Vietnamese held him in captivity under squalid and horrific conditions. Listed first as Missing in Action and presumed dead for three-and-a-half years, Clark endured cruel mistreatment, torture, and suffering as a POW. His courage and perseverance speak to an indomitable spirit and faith that still carries him forward.
Colonel Clark’s decorations include the Silver Star, two Legions of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, and two Purple Hearts, and his engraved name on metal POW/MIA bracelets was worn by thousands of Americans in the Vietnam era. Historian Dr. Joel Rhodes, executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri, joins Colonel Clark in telling his story of POW brotherhood, 1973 homecoming, and a life of service.
Clark will also sign his book The Eagle Hunts which can be purchased in SHSMO's Richard Bookstore inside the Center for Missouri stories or online.
Clark's personal POW artifacts are also featured in the “W[A]RN and TRANSFORMED: Uniforms as Stories of U.S.” exhibition that is currently open in the William Guitar Little Gallery of Art inside the Center for Missouri Studies through August 15.