Clarence, the son of former Kansas State Representative A. J. Corey of Fort Worth, Kansas, was born about 1888 and moved to Santa Cruz, California with his family in 1913.

When World War I began, Corey immediately enlisted in the army and was assigned to the Quartermaster Corps. Wanting to see action he requested a transfer and was subsequently assigned as a machine gunner in the Aviation Corps. His correspondence home shared his experiences while serving on the front as he described "the bursting shells and the war activity all around him." During the summer of 1918, he was transferred to the 11th Infantry Regiment of the 5th Division.

“The 5th Division had received orders to attack in a sector on the southeast face of the St. Mihiel salient and, commencing on September 4, conducted a series of grueling night marches through mud and cold rain to cover the one hundred kilometers to the assembly areas south of Regnieville. The storm broke before the enemy was prepared. In fact, the Germans had foreseen the operation and had decided to withdraw; however, the attack came about forty-eight hours before it was expected. It was apparent that the American movement to the front had been accomplished with adequate secrecy. Preceded by a four-hour artillery preparation, the 6th and 11th Infantry Regiments went "over the top" at 5 a.m. on September 12.”

On October 4, 1918, A. J. Corey, a Civil War veteran living in Santa Cruz, received a telegram from the war department informing him that his son, Sergeant Clarence L. Corey, had been killed somewhere in France on September 12, 1918. The remains of Clarence Corey were later returned to the United States and buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.

(CAG; USDVA; Society of the 5th Div, WWI History, http://www.societyofthefifthdivision.com/, [16 September 2008]; SCSf October 5, 1918; SCSn October 6, 1918)