Bebout, Clyde C.

CLYDE CLAYTON BEBOUT

TEC 5
U.S. ARMY

Clyde C. Bebout was born on August 6, 1918. He was the son of John E. and Arabelle (Tumbleson) Bebout and was the seventh born out of 10 siblings. His siblings (in order of birth) were Thurman Bebout, Pearl Bebout, Faye Bebout, Aldah F. Bebout, Gayle W Bebout, Lola Bebout, Sarah E. Bebout, Mary Ruth Bebout, Bertha M. Bebout, and Robert Bebout. His mother passed away in 1938. After high school, Clyde went to work as a driver for the Kenosha Drive-Way Company in Fort Wayne. 

Clyde was drafted into the U.S. Army on January 13, 1942 through the Allen County Selective Service Board since he was employed and lived in that county. Upon his induction, Clyde is sent to Bowie, Texas, and then Fort Benning, Georgia for training. He was trained to be a radio operator and was assigned to the 2nd Armored Division. After the completion of training, Private Bebout, was sent to North Africa to take part in the Tunisian Campaign. By March 1943, when he joined the 2nd Armored in Africa, combat activity had mostly ceased and the Division was preparing for the amphibious landing of Sicily as part of Operation Husky which would begin in July of that year.

Clyde never made it to Sicily, however, because on April 12th, 1943, Tec-5 Bebout died as a result of  “accidental drowning" while participating in "authorized athletics". He had not been injured in combat, as was initially reported in the Decatur Daily Democrat. Brigadier General H. B. Lewis sent Tec-5 Bebout's father a telegram notifying him of his son’s death and clarifying some details including that he drowned accidentally. John Bebout believed his son had been mortally wounded, since a letter three days before his death mentioned that he was feeling fine. Corporal Bebout became the first war casualty in the African Campaign from Adams County and the second overall combat related death during the war.

Corporal Bebout was buried temporarily in Africa and, after the war, his remains were returned to the states in May 1948 with 2,530 other American casualties from the African Campaign on the army transport ship Barney Kirschbaum. He is now interred at Willard (Mt. Hope) Cemetery in Berne, Indiana.

For his service and sacrifice, TEC 5 (Corporal) Bebout was awarded the American Theatre Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal. 

Information researched and collected by Blaine Johnson, 2017.

SOURCES

            “Decatur Daily Democrat 10 March 1943 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana’s Digital Historic Newspaper Program.” Newspapers.library.in.gov, newspapers.library.in.gov/? a=d&d=DCDD19430310.1.2&e=------194-en-20-DCDD- 21- txt-txIN-clyde+bebout------. Accessed 1 Apr. 2024.

           “Decatur Daily Democrat 10 May 1943 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana’s Digital Historic Newspaper Program.” Newspapers.library.in.gov, newspapers.library.in.gov/? a=d&d=DCDD19430510.1.1&srpos=2&e=------194-en-20-    DCDD-1--txt-txIN-clyde+bebout------. Accessed 1 Apr. 2024.

           “Decatur Daily Democrat 14 May 1948 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana’s Digital Historic Newspaper Program.” Newspapers.library.in.gov, newspapers.library.in.gov/? a=d&d=DCDD19480514.1.2&srpos=13&e=--194-en- 20-                    DCDD-1--txt-txIN-clyde+bebout------. Accessed 1 Apr. 2024.

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