The pain doesn't go away, but knowing helps the healing.

(AP) The family of Pvt. William Bernice Clark never had a funeral for him, never got to say goodbye and never really accepted his fate among the fallen during the Normandy D-Day landings in World War II.

That was until the young soldier's dog tag, recently discovered in the sands of Omaha Beach in France, was returned to his native Tennessee on Wednesday - exactly 63 years after that tragic day.

"I remember the day the soldiers came and told his mother (that Clark had died)," (a family member) said. "They never accepted it because there was no proof, no body."

The return of a small piece of metal has reconnected his family to the young soldier's life that was cut short.

It's a small symbol of a man's service and life, but it fills a big emptiness that remained to this day in the hearts of a family.

Posted at 02:20 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 what a touching piece GM..God bless our Troops now and always.........

Posted by: Angel at Wednesday, June 06 2007 03:47 PM (Szoyd)

2 Angel, This post was written by Woody who is ALWAYS more alert to this kind of thing then I am. Good find Woody.

Posted by: GM Roper at Wednesday, June 06 2007 10:22 PM (S60yG)

3 (Thanks, Angel and G.M., but I wouldn't say that I come even close to G.M. on covering issues of emotions or touching importance.)

Hope often keeps us going and closure helps us to move on. There was a big time gap between the two, but this shows that it's never to late to help a family with its grief and to recognize a soldier for his sacrifice.

Posted by: Woody at Wednesday, June 06 2007 11:36 PM (v5VVJ)

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