Carter W. Clarke | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 20, 1896 Smithland, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | September 2, 1987 (aged 90) Clearwater, Florida, U.S. |
| Place of burial | |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/ | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1916 - 1954 |
| Rank |  Brigadier General |
| Commands held | Venona project |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II Korean War |
| Spouse(s) | Jessie Fuller Clarke |
| Relations | BGen Carter W. Clarke, Jr. (son) |
Carter W. Clarke (September 20, 1896 – September 3, 1987)[1] was a US Army intelligence officer and brigadier general[2] who was the military intelligence officer who prepared intercepted Japanese Magic cables for US officials. He also headed a War Department investigation into the role that military intelligence before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Clarke joined the army in 1916, the year prior to US entry into World War I. In his work for the Military Intelligence Division, he was instrumental in 1943 in starting the Venona project.[3] In 1944, he ignored a request initiated by Eleanor Roosevelt to cease the project.[4]
During the Korean War, he commanded forces in Osaka, Japan. Late in his career, he also worked as an assistant to Allen W. Dulles, who was Director of Central Intelligence. Clarke retired in 1954.[2]
In a 1959 interview, Clarke said that he disagreed with the decision to drop atomic bombings on Japan at the end of World War II and believed it had been unnecessary since Japan was "down to an abject surrender through the accelerated sinking of their merchant marine and hunger alone, and when we didn't need to do it, and we knew we didn't need to do it, and they knew we knew we didn't need to do it, we used them as an experiment for two atomic bombs."[5][6]
Clarke died of a heart attack at his home in Clearwater, Florida.[2]