Seaman First Class Clarence Hicks was born to Essie (a brickyard laborer) and his wife Mollie Mainor Hicks on 1 April 1925 in Middletown, Connecticut. He was the fifth of eight children.
His parents had been born in Georgia, but Clarence and his five brothers: Rufus (1918), Howard (1921), Harris (1924), Freddie (1928), and Leslie (1930), and two sisters: Jessie (1922) and Marie (1932) were born and grew up in Connecticut. Hicks was drafted on 4 April 1944 out of the Navy office in New Haven, Connecticut, just three days after his 18th birthday.
The picture above is from Hicks’ Enfield High School Yearbook. His yearbook bio reads, "As prone to mischief as able to perform." (See below) He played baseball (1941), basketball (1942, 1943, 1944), football (1942, 1943, 1944), and was a member of the Latin Club (1942, 1943).
According to childhood friends who spoke about him for a 2016 Memorial Day article in the local Journal Inquirer, Clarence was the only black student in his class at Enfield High and was an exceptional athlete. The friends characterized him as quick, fast, and very "wiry".
Clarence turned 18 in the last months of his senior year. Having been called up to serve before high school ended, his parents picked up his diploma while he was off at boot camp.
After enlisting, he reported to Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois on 6 April 1944, for basic training. From there he was transferred to the U.S. Naval Training and Distribution Center at Camp Shoemaker in Dublin, California before being transferred to Indianapolis on 1 December 1944.
His rank was Seaman First Class (SC) meaning that he was in training for the rating of ship’s cook.
Clarence Hicks was 20 years old when he lost his life in the tragic sinking. He was unmarried and had no children.
Rank / Rating: SC1-Ship's Cook First Class
ABBOTT, George Stanley 
FRONTINO, Vincent Fred 
AMICK, Homer Irwin