Stella's Brother, Admiral J.J. "Jocko" Clark

There is a Sutton connection, close enough for our purposes, with one of the more fascinating heroes of Naval aviation.

Admiral J.J. "Jocko" Clark was an older brother of Stella (Clark) Olinger, wife of LeRoy (Roy) Olinger, Sutton residents who owned farms northwest of town. The Sutton story appears at the end of this article.

Joseph James Clark and Stella Clark were born on a farm near Chelsea in Oklahoma Indian Territory, J.J. in 1893, Stella in early 1900. Their parents were William and Lillie Clark. An older brother died in infancy, eight Clark children survived.

This photo of William Clark's family appears in Chapter 1 of "One the Warpath in the Pacific" by Clark G. Reynolds. The farmhouse was near Alluwe, Indian Territory in 1906. Left to right Joe, 12 with his dogs; "Papa" Will Clark, 45; Mary, 8; Stella, 6; "Mama" Lillie Belle, 33; twins Bill, Jr. and Dollie; and Lucy, 11.  

Joseph Clark received an appointment to the U.S. Navy Academy in Annapolis and in 1917 became the first native American to graduate from the academy. Tradition calls for plebes to receive a nickname, Midshipman Clark became "Jocko" a name that stuck with him throughout his career in WWI, WWII, to the end of the Korean War. 

He was assigned to one of the earliest aircraft carriers and immediately was attracted to flying becoming a Naval Aviator in 1925. 

Early in his career, he was the only aviator assigned to an inspection team evaluating new carrier aircraft and procedures for carriers and their aircraft. He was involved in developing carrier tactics until the end of his career, tactics that are key to naval carrier operations today.

Jocko developed a well-earned reputation for his aggressive nature and leadership. He became known as "Patton of the Pacific." Several videos about the admiral live on youtube.

Patton of the Pacific from Cherokee Nation Archivists. 

Admiral Jocko Clark and the Battleship New Jersey - The New Jersey was Admiral Clark's flagship in the Korean War.

After the Yorktown (CV-5) was sunk at Midway, a carrier that was under construction on the east coast was renamed the Yorktown CV-10). Then-Captain Clark was assigned as the new commander and he picked up the carrier before all interior work was done. Crews completed the ship as Jocko drove it through the Panama Canal and to the war in the South Pacific. He was launching aircraft into combat six months later.

A movie production crew accompanied the Yorktown filming what became an hour-long navy promotional movie called "The Fighting Lady." The narrator (Robert Taylor of Clay Center fame) purposely did not name the Yorktown to honor all carrier crews and airmen in the flick.

The Fighting Lady - an hour-long movie by 20th Century Fox.

The film is illustrated by navy combat film. A commentator pointed out that the Yorktown was the only ship with color film so all color photography in the film came from Jocko's ship. Jocko gets good coverage especially of him chewing out the crew and directing traffic on deck. The original film had no sound so we enjoy Jocko's words in a voice-over.

Back to the Sutton connection. Jocko's sister Stella Clarinda married LeRoy (Roy) Olinger in Oklahoma in 1918. Roy and his sister Bertha (wife of Dr. Fred Figi) were Sutton High grads in 1914 and 1913. (Dr. Figi in '12). 

Roy and Stella's daughter Jody married Paul McBeth and farmed an Olinger farm northwest of town. (I scooped corn with Paul many a time on our neighborhood corn-shelling crew.) Their daughter Paula was my classmate, class of '61. Second daughter Jody ('65) lives in Omaha - we had a great conversation about her great uncle Jocko and the books. Elizabeth was in the class of '72 and Dr. William McBeth in '74. 

Clark G. Reynolds assisted Jocko with his autobiography. Reynolds was the nephew of Admiral Clark's personal aide and snagged the gig when he was 19. Writing the book had to wait until Reynolds had his PhD from Duke years later. 

Reynolds was upset that the editor cut the story of Jocko's early years (including all mention of Stella) so that the autobiography concentrated on the admiral's career on carriers. So, we now have a full-fledged biography that does include the admiral's formative years in Indian Territory, hi-jinx at Annapolis (oh yeah), and pretty robust genealogy coverage of the admiral's various lines, including the Cherokee ancestry.

Jody and I captured the last copies of "Warpath" at amazon, so if you're interested (I recommend it) you'll have to wait or find another source.