Ralph Tracy Clark, Smithfield, Utah: an interview by Becky B. Lloyd, September 9, 2006: Saving the Legacy tape nos. 767 & 768

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RALPH TRA Y LARK P MB R 9 2006 One day he said to somebody with him 'Have that man report to my quart r . ' I thought "Have I got dust on me? What happened?" I went up to see him and he talked to me and he said, "Have you ever thought about making the Navy a career?" I said "Well, a little bit maybe." I had a neighbor down the street over here. He went into the Naval Air Corps and became a pilot. He went to Annapolis. He said, "I think that you had a good record in high school and so forth. Would you be interested in making the Navy a career and maybe going to Annapolis?" That was overwhelming. I said, "I don't know, Sir." He said, "Well, think about it." So I went back and I thought a lot about it and I thought, "I don't know whether I want to be a Navy officer or not." The pressure was everybody else was going home and everybody was expecting us to come home. So all that entered into it. Finally I decided. He said, "You'll get promoted, right now to a petty officer second class." But I decided I wouldn't do it. Everybody else was going to Utah State Agricultural College, which it was called back then. I thought, "I think I'll go home." I'd been away for a couple of years. I don't know what your religious affiliation is, nor do I expect you to tell me, but back in those days, not many (LDS) missionaries were going out. They were only taking a limited number. It seemed like there was a preference given to sons of bishops or high councilmen. They had a quota. It's not like it is now. I wasn't even asked. I don't think my bishop ever asked me if I wanted to go. There were just no openings. My junior year, my mother asked me, "Have you thought about it?" I said, "Yes, I have." She said, "What do you think?" I said, "Well, I'm busy with what I'm doing in school." She said, 25