Mary Clarke was born on December 3, 1924.

She served in the U.S. Army. During her long and distinguished career, she achieved many firsts. She rose through the ranks from Private to Major General and commanded units from detachment level to a major Army post.

She was the Commandant of the Women’s Army Corps Center and School at Fort McClellan, Alabama, where from 1972 to 1974 she presided over the expansion of the WAC.

In August 1975, she was promoted to Brigadier General and served as the last Director of the Women’s Army Corps, when her office was disestablished in 1981. The Army assigned her in May 1977 to Fort McClellan and promoted her in November to Major General, the first Army woman to attain that rank.

Her assignment was historic as it was groundbreaking. She became the first woman to command a major military installation and the first woman Commandant of the U. S. Army Military Police and the U.S. Army Chemical Schools. Over her career, General Clarke earned many top Defense Department medals, chief among them the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit and the Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster.

She died June 10, 2011.