Editor’s note: Information on Sgt. Clarence R. Faulkner, Jr. was submitted by his niece, Brenda Wortman, of Houlton. “He was the family hero and even though it has been a lot of years, I think he deserves to be honored. Just another hometown boy who never came home from the war,” she wrote.
WITH THE 5TH ARMY, Italy — Sergeant Clarence R. Faulkner, Jr., of Mars Hill, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal posthumously for heroic action in combat with the Fifth Army front in Italy on March 5, 1945.
He served with the 85th Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division.
Faulkner was a member of a machine gun squad that, after clearing out enemy positions, fired upon a group of houses known to harbor enemy soldiers. Three of the enemy tried to flee and were killed. Six enemy soldiers then came from a haystack about 50 yards from the house and surrendered. They informed their captors that they were the last of the hostile troops in the area.
Faulkner and several others moved forward, but were suddenly caught in machine gun and small arms fire. Assuming charge of the squad, Faulkner attempted to carry the attack. He leaped to his feet and dashed toward one of the houses, but was cut down by small arms fire.
“His disregard for his own safety, and his courageous action in closing with the enemy is in keeping with the highest standards of the United States Army,” the citation stated.
Sgt. Faulkner entered military service on July, 12, 1943. His mother, Mrs. Bernice Faulkner, lives in Mars Hill.
Mrs. Faulkner also received a letter from her son’s chaplain, Capt. Charles W. Gordon, praising young Faulkner in the highest terms. “You can be justly proud of your son’s courage and devotion to duty in the face of grave danger, and in his willingness to carry on cheerfully to the very end,” he wrote.
Sgt. Faulkner was born in Blaine, attended Aroostook Central Institute one year and moved to Portland, where he attended Portland high school two years, working weekends in a Portland newspaper office. While in high school, he broke all records in cross country races.
Surviving are his parents, one brother and six sisters.
