Hometown: Middleton, WI 
Branch: U.S. Marine Corps
Unit: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division
Military Honors: Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: June 16, 1951 - KIA, Haean “Punchbowl” Basin, Korea
Age: 27
Conflict: Korean War 1950-1953

Born in Woodbury County, Iowa in 1923, Clarence Bentley moved to Middleton, Wisconsin after graduating high school in 1941. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in December of 1942, and served for three years in World War II, spending 18 months in the South Pacific theater. He was recalled to active duty in September of 1950, at the beginning of the Korean War.

On June 10, 1951, Corporal Bentley was mortally wounded at Korea’s Haean Basin, nicknamed “The Punchbowl” because of its shape. The Punchbowl is several miles south of the Korean Demilitarized Zone. He was evacuated to the hospital ship USS Repose (AH-16), where he died from his wounds six days later.

Corporal Bentley’s ultimate sacrifice is honored on the Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and he is buried in his hometown at Middleton Junction Cemetery.

Sources
Artist’s rendering: Craig Du Mez
Korean War Project: CPL Clarence Lyle Bentley
American Battle Monuments Commission: Clarence Lyle Bentley
Honor States: Clarence Lyle Bentley
Burial Site: Find a Grave