The Honorable Transfer of Remains of Corporal Clark E. Worline will enter Putnam County from the east on State Route 224 on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. The procession will be accompanied by the Legion Riders, Patriot Guard and other veteran groups. The expected timeline is to arrive in Ottawa between 5:00pm and 5:15pm, proceed to Kalida between 5:15pm and 5:30pm and then continue west on SR224 to the Love-Heitmeyer Funeral Home in Jackson Township (east of Ottoville). The public is invited to join in honoring Corporal Worline’s homecoming by lining the processional route. Please make plans with your family and friends to honor the life of this soldier who has finally made his way home.
All are invited to attend Corporal Worline’s visitation on Thursday, May 18 from 4-7pm. Corporal Worline will be laid to rest on Friday, May 19th, on what would have been his 93rd birthday.
From the Love-Heitmeyer Funeral Home website:
Corporal Clark E. Worline, was born on May 19, 1930 to the late Clifford and Gwendolyn (Davis) Worline. He was reported missing in action (MIA) on November 26, 1950 while serving in Korea.
The Honorable Transfer of Remains from Dayton International Airport is scheduled for Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Corporal Worline should be returning to the Putnam County area at approximately 5pm. The transfer processional will travel West across the county on US 224 through Ottawa and Kalida enroute to Love-Heitmeyer Funeral Home, Jackson Twp.
Corporal Worline’s nephew would like to extend his cordial invitation to attend the visitation on Thursday, May 18th from 4pm to 7pm at LOVE-HEITMEYER FUNERAL HOME, Jackson Twp. Corporal Worline’s memorial service will be Friday, May 19th at 12 noon at the funeral home. Burial will follow at Fairview Cemetery, Dupont, OH with full military honors.
Historical Background
Corporal Clark E. WORLINE, served with Charlie Company, 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion, Eighth U.S. Army. On 26 November 1950 his unit reported him as missing in action (MIA) after a battle against the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) in the vicinity of Sinjang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K., or North Korea). The U.S. Army declared him dead on 31 December 1953, after Corporal WORLINE was not recovered. While no witness accounts or other historical records have been identified, it is possible that Corporal WORLINE was captured and eventually marched to POW Camp 5, located at Pyoktong, along the Yalu River, North Korea.
During Operation GLORY-the exchange of dead between combatant countries of the Korean War-the CPVF returned remains it recovered from POW Camp 5, Pyoktong, North Korea. The U.S. Army accessioned one set of Camp 5 remains, number 1326, as Evacuation Number N-14326, which was later designated Unknown X-14326 Operation GLORY. In August 2019 the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) disinterred X-14326 and accessioned the remains as CIL 2019-301 for scientific analysis and possible identification with any unresolved soldier known to have been buried at Camp 5. Although Corporal WORLINE was not reported as having been at Camp 5, the presence of two other soldiers from his unit at that camp and historical precedence that POWs often remained at such camps without the knowledge of others around them, established the possibility that Corporal WORLINE died there without his presence or death being noted by either the North Korean People’s Army (KPA) or other American POWs. Based on historical records and circumstantial evidence, an association of CIL 2019-301-I-01 with Corporal Clark E. WORLINE is historically viable.
