Joseph G. Clemons
Colonel Joseph Gordon Clemons, Jr. (April 30, 1928 – May 15, 2018) was a decorated soldier in the United States Army in the Korean War and in the Vietnam War. His actions in the 1953 Battle of Pork Chop Hill were the subject of a 1959 movie, Pork Chop Hill. Early life Clemons's father was also Joseph G. Clemons. Clemons lived for a while and attended elementary school in Hillsborough County, Florida. Clemons graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in 1945 and enlisted in the Army, serving for eighteen months before being appointed to West Point. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1951 (Cullum number 18024). During the Korean War, his residence was Arlington, Virginia. Korean War Clemons was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross while serving as a platoon leader in Company K, 31st Infantry Regiment for "heroism in action against the enemy in the vicinity of Kumhwa, Korea, October 28, 1952", a part of the Battle of Triangle Hill. In that action, Clemons led the attack platoon in a counterattack, leading multiple attacks with limited ammunition, including hand-to-hand fighting. On April 17, 1953, after being assigned as the commanding officer of Company K while still a first