Lance M. Clark dies 'from a non-hostile incident'

A U.S. Marine from Cookeville has been killed in Iraq, his family has been told. Lance Corporal Lance Murphy Clark, 21, of Jager Lane, Cookeville, the son of John Dale and Susie Scott of Cookeville and Jackie and Pam Clark of Chestnut Mound, died in southern Iraq on Sept. 7, Marine officers told the Scott family late Friday night.

More information, including details of when his body will be returned, was expected to be given to the family today, according to LCpl. Clark's mother, Susie Murphy Scott.

She said U.S. Marine officers knocked on her door about 10:30 p.m. Friday to inform her of her son's death. They reported that he died of a gunshot wound, but had no further information at the time.

LCpl. Clark, who would have turned 22 on Dec. 5, graduated from Cookeville High School in 2004 and joined the U.S. Marines in April of 2005. He completed basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, and had recently been stationed at Camp Pendleton in California, his mother said.

He had already completed one tour of duty in Iraq and was called back for a second tour in July, with plans to return to the U.S. in February, she said.

"He had been gone this time about eight weeks and had called us three times since then," she said.

"He had given me the new address, and I sent him some things -- one of those little spray fans because it's so hot over there, some candy, some socks and underwear -- I believe he had had time to receive that package."

She said her son told her before being deployed to the war, "Mom, if I don't get back home, I'll be waiting for you in heaven."

"He was a good person, a sweet boy that never gave us any trouble," she said. "He was always concerned about how other people felt."

He was a member of Eastwood Baptist Church, she said, and he was very close to his brother, Travis Lee Clark and his stepbrothers, Greg Scott and Jason Scott of Cookeville and Kevin and Adam Huff of Chestnut Mound.

His family also includes his maternal grandmother, Jessie Carmack Murphy of Cookeville. He was preceded in death by his maternal grandfather, Donald W. Murphy, and his paternal grandparents, Lanzy and Opal Clark.

He joined the Marines after the war had already started, fully aware of the danger, his mother said. He liked the military life, but was looking forward to getting back home, she said. He often mentioned his grandfather, the late Donald W. Murphy, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II, saying that "if Pa could do that, I can do this."

LCpl. Clark was a boy who was always interested in cars, his mother said. He loved to work on vehicles, and he liked guns and hunting and fishing, as well as wrestling and other sports, she said.

In the Marines, he had won awards for his shooting skills.

From the Herald Citizen