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The
Lone Navy Eagle by W. Ed Parker
Review
by Mark Webster (7-30-01)
Ed Parker is a local activist for the Constitution Party.
As this book quietly demonstrates, he is a genuine American hero. Parker was born in 1924 and grew up on a farm in North
Carolina. When the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor, Parker was a senior in high school with plans to
attend college. He shelved
his personal plans and began the process of joining the Navy immediately
after graduation from high school. Since
he was underweight, he had to eat several bananas and be re-weighed to
order to pass the physical.
He was admitted to the Navy’s flight training and underwent
various training in North Carolina, Illinois, and Texas.
His training was extensive and arduous.
Parker realized he was not well prepared in subjects such as math
and physics, but with great effort he mastered the subjects well enough to
fly. This training must have
been useful in his acquisition of a degree in Industrial Engineering from
North Carolina State after the war and his eventual career at General
Electric.
Although Parker had natural talent as a pilot, he had many close
calls in training and in actual combat.
He was lost in a snowstorm in Illinois, had to bail out of a plane
over a dry lake in Texas, and actually landed a plane with the landing
gear up on a beach in Florida within inches of the ocean. The Texas
incident was his only parachute landing.
His description of landing in the muddy lake and struggling to get
out of the muddy mess is unforgettable.
Eventually he was assigned to combat duty with various air groups
aboard the U.S.S. Princeton, where he remained until the Japanese sunk the
“Peerless P.” on October 24, 1944.
Parker’s first air-to-air combat occurred around Hollandia, New
Guinea on April 25, 1943. He
was nineteen years old. Later
he flew several missions in the Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands, Truk
Atoll, the Marianas, Guam, Palau Islands, and the Philippines.
He may have been the only Navy Fighter Pilot Lt. (jg) who fought in
seven major campaigns in one year, all before reaching the age of
twenty-one! Mr. Parker
describes several battles in detail.
My favorite involves his decision to drop a 500 pound bomb on a
ledge of Mt. Alifan in the Guam islands so it would skip across the ledge,
bounce into a cave, and destroy Japanese gunners in the cave who had
pinned down American troops on the beach.
Although he had to fly close to the enemy field of fire and his
plane sustained numerous hits
from small arms fire, he succeeded. My
father may have been part of these amphibious forces on the beach below.
My father was eventually seriously wounded in the Pacific later in 1943,
but I like to think pilots like Parker kept him alive.
Parker’s description and overview of the Battle of Leyte Gulf,
which many believe to have been the greatest naval battle in all of
history, has made me want read more about that battle.
Parker’s last mission was in 1944.
Although he eventually marries, has a daughter, and remains in
active service until 1947, the excitement ends with the last combat
mission. As Parker says, the
war years were great years, but he would not wish to repeat them.
He did have at least one other bit of excitement.
In April of 1947 he achieved a cross-country record when he flew an
F8F Bearcat from Norfolk to San Diego in a total flight time of ten hours.
This even included a slight detour to fly over his hometown of
Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.
The title “Lone Navy Eagle” requires some explanation.
Obviously, Parker was in the Navy and flew like an eagle.
Because he was rushed form one assignment to another and from one
plane to another, he never felt he was part of a team until his last
squadron assignment. I would
also say because he was often the youngest, the least educated, and a
junior pilot, he was often denied the best assignments and had to do what
he was ordered to do on his own and often without credit. Like the “Lone
Sailor” described on the U.S. Navy Memorial, Parker was the Lone Navy
Eagle.
The book is published by 1st Books Library and is
available at local bookstores and online at 1stbooks.com.
The book could have used more proofreading and editing of some of
the figures and exhibits, many of which were so light I could not read
them. However, I could
clearly read Navy Secretary
Forrestal’s June 27, 1947
separation letter to Parker, which must have been thrilling for him to
receive.
It took farm boys like Parker and my father to defeat the Japanese
and the Germans so a sissy like me could enjoy my easy liberty.
In one sense the war continues against those who would use our own
government to dilute the liberty Parker and millions like him fought to
preserve. I’m glad men like Parker fought the good fight.
I’m also glad Parker wrote this book.
Click
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