Sharon Soldier Survives
IED Explosion in Iraq
By Sandy Cooch

Kathleen and Alan Clark of Sharon are feeling grateful, extremely grateful, for the extra armoring that now protects Army vehicles and soldiers in Iraq.

Thanks to that protection, their son, Sgt. Carlton A. Clark, escaped with relatively minor injuries June 18 after the vehicle he was in took an explosive, 30-foot trip into the air.

Sgt. Clark, 23, and other members of a four-man crew were patrolling the streets of Baghdad in a heavily armored vehicle when it hit an IED (improvised explosive device). The roadside bomb exploded, sending the vehicle skyward.

"The whole vehicle stayed intact—thank God for the extra armor—and landed on its side," Kathleen Clark told The Herald this week.

All four soldiers inside survived the explosion, and Sgt. Clark suffered only an injured ear and head gash.

"His helmet was blown off," Clark said.

The Clarks first clue that something had happened was a call from their son, left on the answering machine, assuring them he was "okay," and would call soon.

"From the tone of his voice we knew something was wrong," she said.

Subsequent calls from Carl and from an Army officer at Fort Campbell, Ken., helped them piece together the story.

Sgt. Clark is already "patched up and back on duty," but since he can’t yet put his helmet on, he is currently doing on-base duty, his mother said.

This is Clark’s second year-long tour in Iraq; his mission the first time was "locating and destroying weapons caches," Clark said.

He is attached to the 2nd Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division, and his current assignment is "patrolling and securing roads, while locating roadside bombs," his mother explained.

Most recently, her son has been patrolling the southern part of Baghdad, "where it is all happening," Clark noted.

Sgt. Clark, a 2002 graduate of South Royalton High School, enlisted in the U.S. Army before graduation. He re-upped for another two years after his first three-year stint. He is currently mulling whether to reënlist when his current Army commitment is done, she said.

Clark was home on leave for "two wonderful weeks" this spring, his mother said. Their soldier son calls them regularly, usually at 3 a.m. his time (about 8 a.m. in Vermont), as he comes off duty.

Kathleen Clark admitted she’d be happy to have her son keep his on-base job for the next three months, when his current tour in Iraq ends.

But Carlton Clark, she said, "can’t wait to get back out."

"He gets a little bothered by the news that only tells the bad and not the good we’re doing," his mother said. "He wants everyone to know we are making progress."