1995 Nissan quest

discovered that a clunk that I was hearing earlier was a broken strut? This part looks like it goes up into the wheel well and the other end is attached to the rear axle. Does anybody have any idea what part I am talking about.

Sounds like a shock absorber. Not too expensive on the rear of a Quest. Replace them in pairs. You can buy them locally, get them from tirerack.com, or get them from a dealer. If you have the heavy duty (sport?) suspension, you should use the dealer products or something like KYB.