Clem Lee was the son of Varnell Lee and Bertha Lee Chapman, who married on 12/21/1917 in McGehee, Desha county, Arkansas. He completed his public education at the McGehee High School and the N.Y.A. Training School at Dumas, Arkansas.

The 1930 US Census shows the following family as living in the Lee household in McGehee,Arkansas:
Head Varnell Lee 33 Arkansas
Wife Bertha Lee 34 Arkansas
Son Varnell E Lee 11 Arkansas
Dau Louise Lee 9 Arkansas
Son Clem D Lee 5 Arkansas
Son Robert E Lee 3 Arkansas

On 7/9/1943 Clem reported for induction into the United States Army at Little Rock, Arkansas. Upon completion of his basic training at Ft Devens, Massachusetts, he was assigned to Company "C", 179th Enginneer Combat Battalion (ECB). He was sent for specialty training in at Fort Pierce, Florida, and after its completion, the battalion shipped out for England and began preparations for the Invasion of Europe. D-Day occurred on 6/6/1944 at Normandy, France, but the 179th ECB did not land on Omaha Beach until early August. The 179th ECB was assigned to the 1139th Engineer Combat Group, XX Corps under the command of General George S. Patton's Third Army. Shortly after their arrival in France, they began moving inland almost immediately and headed toward the town of St. Mere Eglise. The battalion moved on through France and into the Battle of the Falaise Pocket (AKA Falaise Gap), which was fought from 8/12-21/1944 and was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy. The fighting in this battle was intense. General of the Army Dwight David Eisenhower stated in his memoirs about a visit to the battlefield that, "The battlefield at Falaise was unquestionably one of the greatest 'killing fields' of any of the war areas. Forty-eight hours after the closing of the gap I was conducted through it on foot, to encounter scenes that could be described only by Dante. It was literally possible to walk for hundreds of yards at a time, stepping on nothing but dead and decaying flesh."

Clem had been in country less than 3 weeks and saw the utter destruction that man can heap upon man and undoubtedly was moved by the things he saw. Within six weeks of arriving in France, Clem was killed in action. The general area were Clem was killed is about all we are going to be able to establish at the time of this writing. The XXth Corps and the 90th Infantry Division (ID) were holding a 16 mile front on the west side of the Moselle River on the line of Metz - Thionville in North Eastern France. The 1139th Engineers Group would have been in support of at least two divisions, possibly three, and their engineer combat battalions could have been any where from the Meuse River Crossing at Verdun east to the Moselle near Thionville.

Clem was buried temporarily at Andilly Cemetery, Lay St. Remy, France. In 1948 his remains were returned to America per his families request and was buried in a private cemetery.

Clem D. Lee earned the following decorations for his service during World War II:
- Purple Heart Medal
- Army Good Conduct Medal
- European Theater of Operations Campaign Medal with 2 bronze battle/campaign stars
- World War II Victory Medal

Clem's younger brother Roy E. Lee, served in the Merchant Marine at the end of the war and performed overseas duty. He survived the war.

**NOTE** - Clem's headstone shows that he was with the 90th Infantry Division when he was killed. This headstone was a privately purchased headstone and not one issued by the US Government. Clem was NOT a member of the 90th ID nor was his unit attached to it. They were, however, temporarily in support of the 358th Infantry Regiment (IR), one of the 90th ID regiments. Being assigned to give support is different from being a member of or attached to a unit. Somehow or another, the family apparently received word that he was in support of the 358th IR's mission at the time he was killed.
(Biography written by Rick Lawrence, MSgt., USMC/USAFR (RET)