KA-BAR

He never considered himself a hero and he never liked talking about it, but Clarence Harding Garrett, born in Town Creek, Alabama, achieved a level of success on many fields during his lifetime, including the battlefield.

Born Jan. 5, 1923 to James & Ruth Garrett, he joined the Marines at the age of 20 in April of 1943. He became a member of the 3rd Platoon, Company E (Easy Co.), 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division.

On the battlefield, Pfc. Garrett was in the Assault Squad, wounded twice in the battle of Iwo Jima. His was the most decorated platoon for a single engagement in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps. He was led by First Lt. John K. Wells (WIA), Platoon Sgt. Ernest I. Thomas (KIA) and Sgt. Henry O. Hansen (Platoon Guide) (KIA).

His 40-man patrol reached the island of Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945. Four days and many casualties later, the patrol climbed Mt. Suribachi and raised the American flag, an event which epitomizes patriotism and heroism during his generation and ours.

The battle for Iwo Jima and the subsequent flag-raising is where Garrett’s heroism gained notoriety. After many bloody battles with an elusive enemy, and even after the historic flag-raising had taken place, the battle on Iwo Jima wasn’t over. A Japanese officer, one of many Japanese who were still hiding in caves and firing on Americans, charged out of a cave brandishing a broke sword toward Sgt. Howard Snyder, who fired his .45 directly at the enemy. His gun misfired, surprising them both. From the cliff above the cave, Pfc. Garrett put several rounds from his Browning automatic rifle into the Japanese officer, ending his bitter rampage. This heroic act is retold in many books written on World War II, which mention Garrett by name.

Garrett earned the Purple Heart and a Gold Star (in lieu of a second Purple Heart) for wounds he received during his 19 days on Iwo Jima. He received the first wound when a mortar shell exploded and shot rock fragments into his chest. After a few days in the hospital, he rejoined his outfit and was later hit in the wrist with grenade shrapnel. Even with the wounds he suffered, he considered himself lucky - out of 40 men in his patrol, 17 were killed. Over 6,000 Americans were killed on Iwo Jima. His wife Lee remembers of her husband’s recollections of Iwo Jima, "It was very scary and a lot of praying was going on."

Garrett was able to attend only one of his platoon's reunions in Abilene, TX in 1987 prior to his death in 1992.

As evidenced by wartime photographs, Garrett carried his Marine issue KA-BAR knife on his hip throughout the battle. He so cherished his knife that he used it every day until it finally fell apart after years of use. Not only did he use it in military service, but he also used it daily to skin cable when he worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as a journeyman electrician. He began this career only thirteen days after his discharge from the Marines in Aug. 1945. His KA-BAR lasted nearly 15 years after his military service and he often said he felt it was the best knife ever made.

Garrett's career in the electrical field again put him in harm’s way and nearly took his life. He started out as a truck driver for TVA in Florence, AL and later spent four years as an apprentice electrician. Through the years, he worked in all seven states in the Tennessee Valley.

He was injured in the line of duty while working on a power line tower on Jan. 7, 1951, in the Ft. Loudoun Dam switching yard in East Tennessee. Garrett was on the top girder 75 feet in the air with two other electricians perched a lower levels. The day was rainy and slippery on the tower. Garrett accidently brushed a high-tension line and it shot 154,000 volts of electricity into his body. He fell 15 feet headlong to the ground before miraculously falling on a metal crossarm, where his co-workers were able to save him from plunging to the ground. So great was the contact flash that the two companions, perched 15-feet below, got hand and face burns. Garrett was still unconscious when he arrived at the hospital, where he was revived by artificial respiration and other measures. Garrett was burned on about 30 percent of his body. Following his heroic battle to recover from his injuries, he went back to work, Nov. 19, 1951 after staying in the hospital 10 and half months.

Garrett was a member and past president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) local Union 760 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Wile working for TVA, Garrett also worked in the sales field. He sold insurance for Lincoln American Life Insurance Co. and earned many sales awards during his 12 years of both full-and part-time service. However, being a journeyman electrician for TVA was his life's happiness, according to wife Lee.

Garrett and his wife were lifelong members of Broadway Baptist Church in Knoxville, where he was a deacon and superintendent of the adult Sunday school class for over 29 years.

On the playing filed, Garrett was a Little League baseball coach for about five years and was an avid volunteer from the 1950s to the 1980s with various charities. His wife Lee said, "he made speeches and helped collect money for those charities and never turned down and opportunity to volunteer his time." He was an avid outdoorsman and sportsman who enjoyed hunting, golf, fishing, camping, family gatherings and bowling on his church league.

Garrett died on July 25, 1992 and is survived by his wife, Oma Lee Garrett; sons William Daniel, Ronnie O' Neal and Donald David Garrett; daughters Patricia Lee Bailey and Cynthia Ann Clark; seven grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

Cynthia Garrett Clark

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