Major General Clarence Leonard Tinker

Clarence L. Tinker

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Major General Clarence Leonard Tinker (1887–1942) was an airman who lost his life during World War II while on a combat mission during the Japanese attack on Midway Island in the Pacific, June 7, 1942. Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is named in his honor. Tinker was an enrolled member of the Osage Nation and the highest ranking native-American officer in the U. S. Army.

Early life

One-eighth Osage Indian, Clarence Tinker was born on November 21, 1887 near Pawhuska, Oklahoma in the Osage Nation. His maternal grandmother was half-Osage, with both her parents being children of the marriage of Osages with Arcadian Frenchmen from Louisiana. Tinker, the eldest son of George E. Tinker and Sarah A. Schwagerte, received his elementary education in Catholic institutions at Hominy and Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and the Elgin, Kansas public school. While growing up, he worked in the print shop of the Wah-Sha-She News, Pawhuska's first newspaper, which his father founded and published. Beginning in 1900 Tinker attended the Haskell Institute, the famous Indian school in Lawrence, Kansas, but withdrew before graduating. In the fall of 1906, Tinker enrolled at Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri. Upon graduating from Wentworth in 1908 Tinker was commissioned a third lieutenant in the Philippine Constabulary. His service there ended in 1912.

Army career

He received his commission as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army infantry in March 1912. After infantry training, Tinker joined the Twenty-fifth Infantry Division at Fort George Wright in Spokane, Washington. In 1913, his unit was transferred to Hawaii, where he met and married Madeline Doyle, a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

During World War I, Tinker served in the Southwestern United States and California, and was promoted to Major. In 1919, Tinker began flying lessons. One of his assignments after the War was with the ROTC at Riverside High School. When his father came to visit him at the school they began a conversation in Osage in public. This use of the language was one of the ways that Tinker publicly demonstrated his Osageness. Shortly thereafter, he transferred to the Army Air Service, and on July 1, 1922, he was assigned to flight duty. For a time Tinker was the air attache to the US embassy in London. He also was at the Army Command and Staff College in the same class as Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1927, he was named Commandant of the Air Service Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field, Texas. Tinker commanded various pursuit and bombardment units during the 1930s. He was steadily promoted, and on October 1, 1940, became a brigadier general.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Tinker was named Commander of the Seventh Air Force in Hawaii to reorganize the air defenses of the islands. In January 1942, he was promoted to Major General, the First American Indian in U.S. Army history to attain that rank. In June 1942, the Japanese began their assault of Midway Island. In the midst of the Battle of Midway, on June 7, General Tinker decided personally to lead a force of early model B-24s against the retreating Japanese naval forces. Near Midway Island his plane was seen to go out of control and plunge into the sea. General Tinker and eight other crewmen perished. His body was never recovered.

Legacy

Clarence L. Tinker was the first American General killed in World War II. He received the Soldier's Medal in 1931 and was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. On October 14, 1942, the Oklahoma City Air Depot was named Tinker Field in his honor. It is now known as Tinker Air Force Base. There is also an elementary school named after him at Macdill Air Force Base.

Bibliographic details for "Clarence L. Tinker"

• Page name: Clarence L. Tinker
• Author: Wikipedia contributors
• Publisher: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
• Date of last revision: 14 November 2016 09:44 UTC
• Date retrieved: 17 February 2017 22:53 UTC
• Permanent link: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clarence_L._Tinker&oldid...
• Primary contributors: Revision history statistics
• Page Version ID: 749439183

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Clarence L Tinker, United States Census, 1920

Name: Clarence L Tinker Titles and Terms: Event Type: Census Event Date: 1920 Event Place: Riverside Ward 1, Riverside, California, United States District: ED 115 Gender: Male Age: 32 Marital Status: Married Race: White Race (Original): White Can Read: Yes Can Write: Yes Relationship to Head of Household: Head Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Head Own or Rent: Rent Birth Year (Estimated): 1888 Birthplace: Kansas Immigration Year: Father's Birthplace: Oklahoma Mother's Birthplace: Oklahoma Sheet Letter: B Sheet Number: 5 Sheet Number and Letter: 5B Household ID: 126 Line Number: 70 Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Affiliate Publication Number: T625 Affiliate Film Number: 125 GS Film Number: 1820125 Digital Folder Number: 004964306 Image Number: 00589

• Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
• Clarence L Tinker Head M 32 Kansas
• Madeline Tinker Wife F 23 Canada
• Clarence L Tinker Son M 3 Honolulu
• Madeline Tinker Daughter F 2 California
• Katharine C Doyle Mother-in-law F 60 Canada

Citing this Record:

"United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH71-738 : accessed 18 February 2017), Clarence L Tinker, Riverside Ward 1, Riverside, California, United States; citing ED 115, sheet 5B, line 70, family 126, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 125; FHL microfilm 1,820,125.

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Clarence L Tinker, United States Census, 1940

Name: Clarence L Tinker Titles and Terms: Event Type: Census Event Date: 1940 Event Place: Police Jury Ward 2, Bossier, Louisiana, United States Gender: Male Age: 52 Marital Status: Married Race (Original): Indian Race: Indian Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Head Relationship to Head of Household: Head Birthplace: Oklahoma Birth Year (Estimated): 1888 Last Place of Residence: San Rafael, Marin, California District: 8-13 Family Number: 52 Sheet Number and Letter: 30B Line Number: 73 Affiliate Publication Number: T627 Affiliate Film Number: 1384 Digital Folder Number: 005454620 Image Number: 00105

• Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
• Clarence L Tinker Head M 52 Oklahoma
• Madeline D Tinker Wife F 44 Canada
• Gerald E Tinker Son M 12 District Of Columbia
• Willie M Menis Servant F 20 Louisiana

Citing this Record:

"United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VYRZ-555 : accessed 18 February 2017), Clarence L Tinker, Police Jury Ward 2, Bossier, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 8-13, sheet 30B, line 73, family 52, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1384.

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