Soldier Honored: Lillian L. Clamens

Staff Sergeant Lillian L. Clamens, 35, of Lawton, Oklahoma, was assigned to the 1^st Postal Platoon, 834^th Adjutant General Company and served during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  On October 10, 2007, SSG Clamens was one of two soldiers that was killed when insurgents fired rockets on Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq.

SSG Clamens graduated from Central High School in 1990, quickly enlisted in the Army Reserves but then decides she wanted to serve active duty.  She eventually returned to the Army Reserve and worked as a full-time postal worker and administrative clerk for her unit.  SSG Clamens loved her job because she could directly help soldiers by making sure their transitions from the United States to Iraq and home again went smoothly.  She served for over 17 years, all while being stationed in various locations such as Korea, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Vilseck, Germany and Fort Sill, Oklahoma.  SSG Clamens was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart.

“She was the type of person that was honest,” her niece Sierra, of Omaha, said. “She never had a bad bone in her body. She did everything for her family. She was confident, strong and just a very down-to-earth person.”  “Because she died when I was very young, most of my memories are blurry now, but she was known to be kindhearted, funny, bright, and always smiling,” said her daughter.  “She had a very endearing personality and was a mother that could never be replaced. She handled three kids all on her own at times when my dad was deployed elsewhere.”

SSG Clamens’ daughter is a Folds of Honor Scholarship recipient.