Corporal Karen N. Clifton was born on May 10th, 1985. Ever since she was little, her family recalls her wanting to join the Army. Her sister, Cindy Blackston, reflected, “We tried to talk her out of it, but that’s what she wanted to do. She wanted to be on the front lines, and she wanted to support her country.”
Clifton grew up loving poetry, music, film, shopping, and Indy car racing. She was active in the Mt. Zion Illinois Police Department Explorer’s Program before moving to Florida to complete high school.
While stationed in Germany, she began attending college and hoped to become a state trooper after her time in the Army.
On June 21st, 2007, while in Baghdad, Iraq, Corporal Clifton was in a vehicle that was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. She died from her wounds. She was 22.
Her sister reflected after her death, “She loved her career. She cared about everybody. She said she had a family over there. She was never down. She never cried. I love her, and I miss her.”
Corporal Karen N. Clifton is buried at Point Pleasant Cemetery, Long Creek, Illinois.
Today, the legacy of Cpl. Karen Clifton continues to live on through sweat, and grit, during the annual Cpl. Karen Clifton Challenge, a physically demanding competition put on by the soldiers from the 554th Military Police (MP) Company, 709th MP Battalion, 18th MP Brigade in Germany.
Sources:
https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/army-spc-karen-n-clifton/2857447
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