James Clark has enjoyed three different careers totaling about 57 years, and he continues working today, mostly without pay.
Clark, 78, is a Vietnam vet, a former Kaolin company foreman, and a 22-year Jones County deputy, retiring in 2023. He continues working by helping vets with compensation assistance and teaching self-defense.
Clark grew up in North Carolina and enjoyed basketball in school.
“I was the captain of the basketball team for three years, and I was all-state in 1966,” he shared when asked about his activities.
Clark chose to serve his country and went straight into the Army following high school graduation.
“I was a squad leader and airborne infantry soldier,” he explained. He was in Vietnam one tour (a year), and recalls the intensity of the fighting.
“The biggest Tet offensive they had was in 1968, and I was just ‘lucky enough’ to be in it. We were killing 1,500 a week, and they were killing 500 of us a week.
“I watched a documentary on it,” Clark continued. “The North Vietnamese general said that they threw everything at us they had, and we broke their backs. When they went back to North Vietnam, we could have walked into North Vietnam, but politics wouldn’t let us do that of course. We’d actually won the war, but we couldn’t win it because of politics.”
While in the Army, Clark served in leadership and instructor positions, including Drill Sergeant at Fort Benning.
“Being a drill sergeant taught me the importance of balancing toughness with fairness, discipline with compassion, and leadership with accountability,” he declared.
‘Early’ change of career direction
Clark originally planned to stay in the Army as long as 30 years, but he went to a job fair in Charleston one day.
“I had 21 years in at the time, and I said, ‘Well, I am just going to go check to see what a civilian job is like.’ And, I just went and really wasn’t trying to get out.”
However, his visit changed all that.
“A lot of people tried to hire me,” he said. Among them was a kaolin company. “The guy from Engelhard told me that day, ’You’re going to hear from us.’ ‘Yeah okay.’ You know, I’m quite sure he told that to a lot of people.”
However, a representative of the kaolin company did call.
“So I went up the next day for the interview, and they actually hired me that day.”
The new employee started as a relief foreman, but in just 30 days was promoted to foreman at the McIntyre plant.
“I enjoyed it,” he recalled. “It was definitely different. I had never heard the word “K Olin” before. I didn’t know what it was, didn’t know how to spell it at that time. Then you had to learn kaolin is nothing but chalk in the ground. They call it white gold down there because it’s very expensive.”
After 13 years, nine months on the job, Clark “was caught in the cutback,” as he described it. He was among 33 supervisors released when the company suffered market problems and had to cut costs.
Beginning of third career
The layoff didn’t last long, though. Clark visited with friend Sam Kelly, who suggested he go talk with Sheriff Butch Reece, but only after Kelly gave him a call. Clark, who was 55 then, said the Sheriff commented that he was a little old to go into law enforcement.
“Mister Sam’s words were, ‘He can whup anything you got up here,’“ Clark chuckled. “When I came in that day, I was still trim, still working out and stuff. The sheriff brought me back, I talked to him, and he actually hired me that day.”
Clark started in patrol and was Captain and Certification Manager 22 years later when he retired in 2023. Late in his career there, on short notice due to deaths in the department, he had to take over State Standards, consisting of 134 different standards the department must follow.
“I had to do this in less than 90 days,” he recalled. He and others in the department worked over about two hours each day and were prepared for the inspection. “We only had a couple of things we needed to correct, which we did.”
While at the sheriff’s office, Clark also began instructing other deputies on self-defense and techniques used in martial arts.
“My interest in martial arts began when I was around 12 years old,” Clark reminisced. “I remember watching a television program where one man defeated two attackers. When someone asked him where he learned to fight like that, he replied, ‘I learned Judo in Japan.’
“From that moment on, I knew I wanted to learn martial arts. I started ordering books and practicing techniques with my cousin long before I ever received formal training.”
While serving in Korea, Clark learned Tae Kwon Do and earned his black belt. “I won the 2nd Infantry Division Middleweight Championship,” he said.
The infantry leader also took up boxing and enjoyed that sport, particularly when he went to Alaska.“I really got into boxing then because that was doing it one at a time, with snow every night, every day. So, we’d go to the gym every day to train.”
The sheriff asked Clark to fight his men for three minutes to expose them to self-defense fighting.
“I fought 13 guys up there … I was taking grown men down, like little kids without hurting them; I could have hurt them easy enough. But it was interesting. It was fun, really.
“I was just teaching basic self- defense: how to take people to the ground, how to disarm them, how to cuff them and stuff like that. Just basic self-defense. I wasn’t showing them any deadly techniques.”
Clark still teaches self-defense training — to individuals and groups — but at no cost at all to women.
“My passion for this work came from a tragic experience at Fort Benning, when a young female soldier was raped and murdered,” he pointed out. “That event stayed with me and motivated me to dedicate myself to helping women learn how to protect themselves and survive dangerous situations.”
Actually, Clark doesn’t charge for any training, only for expenses incurred, such as out-oftown trips.
Clark has won many awards and earned numerous titles for his prowess in martial arts. He is a Grand Master in Chinese Goju, and he has been recognized by the Williams Elite Global Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Community Instructor of the Year, awarded an honorary doctorate degree in humanities, and designated a Diamond-Lifetime Service Legend in recognition of his commitment to uplifting lives and communities. He also received a Lifetime Achievement recognition letter from then-President Joe Biden.
VA compensation assistance
Besides his passion for martial arts and self-defense, the retiree has another interest that consumes his time and energy.
“I spend a great deal of my time assisting vets,” he pointed out. “Every veteran I see, I say, ‘Are you drawing compensation?’ If they say no, I give him my card. I say, ‘I can help you if you’d like for me to help you.’” Vets are missing out on benefits, Clark says.
“A veteran, especially a combat veteran, is authorized to draw not only his retirement, but he’s also authorized to draw VA benefits for his compensation. And what I do is ask some questions and then lead him because I know exactly what they’re looking for.”
While at the sheriff’s office, Clark helped fellow deputies who were vets. He would contact the VA, and he knew how to do it.
“You don’t write letters to the VA; you write paragraphs,” he explained. “You write one or two paragraphs. They’ll read that, but they aren’t gonna sit there and read sheets all day long.”
To this day, Clark asks every veteran if they are drawing compensation, and if so, if they are receiving 100 percent.
“I never charge a vet anything to help him because people helped me because I didn’t know what I was doing. I knew how to be in the military. I didn’t know anything about VA compensation. I had to learn it.”
Reflecting on his life and three different careers, Clark, father of two sons and a daughter, said his goal has always been the same.
“Throughout my life, I have always believed that martial arts, boxing, self-defense, and service are about much more than fighting. They are about discipline, confidence, respect, perseverance, leadership, and helping people believe in themselves.
“Whether I have been working with soldiers, athletes, law enforcement personnel, women learning self-defense, or veterans needing assistance, my goal has always been to help others become stronger mentally, physically, emotionally, and personally.”
