The Tucker family moved to Rutherford County in the 1930s, settling in the city of La Vergne. Clifford Tucker, the son of a farrier (blacksmith), lived out his adolescent years in the Jefferson Pike area – at that point, only a couple of homes had been built on that road.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Clifford Tucker would answer the call like many men and women, and would serve in a war described as “the deadliest war in history.” As a young man he was sent to the Japanese-held islands in the Pacific, where some of the most horrendous and bloodiest battles of the war were fought. Those battles played an essential part on winning the war. “He wouldn’t discuss a lot of what happened there and that’s understandable,” said daughter Ida Brewer. After President Truman announced that the war was officially over, Clifford was ready to return home to La Vergne…but when his country called again, he decided to reenlist in 1956. He later married his wife Hilda – cherishing a simpler life, the couple decided to build their home on the property he remembered from his youth.
Clifford continued to serve La Vergne in various ways as the community grew into a booming industrial city.
Ida Brewer
He always remained passionate about the city…there were times when a family might have gone hungry without the help of Clifford and his generosity. Though he passed away in 1993, there is still a lasting presence that Clifford Tucker left in the city. His youngest daughter Ida is employed at Tennessee Farmers Cooperative in La Vergne and recently paid tribute to her father by purchasing a brick for the Veterans Memorial Wall project. La Vergne is proud to have had a soldier, neighbor, and compassionate citizen that has not only made his city proud but his county too.
For more information about how you can purchase a brick to honor a Tennessean who served or is currently serving go to the Buy-a-Brick page.
