"My daddy is going to shoot the Kaiser. When I grow up I am going to shoot Kaisers too," declared Leon Luther Clarke Jr.

Leon Luther Clarke was born about 1884 in Illinois. Census records indicate that his parents were also natives of that state, but no information regarding his siblings or early life was noted. Leon's formal education prepared him for a career in engineering. This was followed by marriage to Grace in 1906. The couple later moved to Oakland, California, where he found employment as a mechanical engineer in road construction.

During the summer of 1917, Clarke moved with his wife and son to Santa Cruz where he was placed in charge of the California Highway Commission construction program in the county. Military records also suggest that he may have maintained a residence in San Francisco.

Leon Clarke applied for a commission and in the fall of 1918, was designated a Lieutenant, assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers and ordered to report to Washington, D. C., for assignment. Leaving his wife and son in Santa Cruz, he departed on October 23, and headed east.

In Washington, D. C., Lt. Clarke was assigned duty at Camp Humphries, (Ft. Belvoir) Virginia and while at that location, contracted the pneumonia that took his life on November 12, 1918. Leon Luther Clarke's final resting-place has yet to be identified.

Major Leon Luther Clarke Jr. served in World War II and shot at a different breed of "Kaisers."

(CAG; USCR, 1910 US Census, CA, Alameda; SCSf October 23, 1918 3:2; SCSn November 13, 1918 4:5)