A Swansea-born war hero is to be laid to rest in America in a national cemetery close to the grave of John F Kennedy. Clifford Edwin Guard, who died aged 99 last month, will be given the honour as he served in the US Army.
He will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery close to Washington DC with full military honours. As well as Kennedy his grave will be close to that of President William Howard Taft and hundreds of America’s most decorated service personnel. Mr Guard had a decorated military career with numerous medals bestowed upon him for his courage, including France's highest honour the Legion d’Honneur.
Known under the moniker of GI Limey he joined the Merchant Navy during the Great Depression at the age of 15. When the Second World War broke out he took part in the Atlantic convoys before later finding himself in New York when America joined the conflict and he joined the 3rd Armoured Division. After the war he spent much of his life across the Atlantic before returning to Swansea where he had been born in 1924. He died in a care home on May 12.
