Clyde Earl Wood was born at Solomon, Kansas on March 7, 1918, the son of Harvey and Amanda Wood. He graduated from the Solomon High School in 1936 and Brown Mackie College in Salina, Kansas. Clyde Wood was drafted into the Army at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, on the 14th day of February, 1942. He was there special duty for a month. From Ft. Leavenworth, he was sent to Ft. Warren in Cheyenne, Wyoming where he was in training for 7 weeks. He was then sent to San Francisco, California where he boarded a ship to be sent overseas. It was the 'Americana' which was the United States largest passenger ship which later was renamed the 'Westpoint'. He went 10,000 miles in 15 days - destination Melbourne, Australia. He was sent there to receive troops and work with the Australian government. He was there approximately 1 and 1/2 years and then was sent to Ora Bay in New Guinea where he was Chief Clerk of the Intelligence Department. Serving in New Guinea for about 6 months, he then was suppose to be sent to Manila in the Philippines. At this point, the Colonel of the base asked Clyde to stay in New Guinea and be his Chief Clerk for the island. The Colonel told Clyde if he would stay he would make him a Master Sergeant - which he did. He was there for another year. For those of us not familiar with this part of the world, Clyde said that it is 'down under' the equator, and is hot day and night. Miserably hot - no place for humans to live. He said a lot of our boys got 'jungle rot' and had to be sent back to the States. He remembered eating mostly 'C' or 'E' rations, and having fresh meat or vegetables about once a month when a ship would come to supply them. Having no refrigeration on the island, they had to eat what fresh food they had immediately as it would not 'keep'. The only way to cool off was swimming in the ocean. From New Guinea he was sent to Cebu in the Philippines. It is a small island 10 miles wide and 30 miles long. Cebu was a town on the island with a population of 50,000 people. All of the buildings in the town had been destroyed by U.S. airplanes except for three. The U.S. took the island back from the Japanese. Clyde said, 'I found out the American Division was on the island an Curtis Armour, a cousin, was with this outfit and I got to visit with him.' He left Cebu and was sent to the island of Leyete, also in the Philippines. He served our country in Intelligence for the rest of the war. On November 20, 1945, He was sent back to the United States where he was discharged at Ft. Logan, Colorado on December 15, 1945. He was on the ship coming home for 22 days. Three days the ship and all on it were in a Typhoon. He remembered bouncing around a lot. Clyde was in the Army in the United States for 3 months, and 13 days, and overseas for 3 years, 6 months and 20 days. For his service, he received the following awards: Asiatic/Pacific Service Medal, Philippines Liberation Ribbon, World War II Victory Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.