Letters From War Wednesday: World War II – Donald Parker
September 21, 2011
Posted in 499th Bomb Group, Donald Parker, Everytown USA, Letters From War Wednesday, World War II
Tags: 499th Bomb Group, Donald Parker, Everytown USA, Letters From War Wednesday, World War II
I run in fits and spurts. Right now I’ve got this U.S. Army Air Corps bug going that I can’t seem to shake. For this edition of Letters From War Wednesday, we feature a short note from Donald Parker, who served in World War II with the 499th Bomb Group.
Most of our Air Corps participants started out in school. Parker actually began with the Army before transferring to become a navigator with our Fly Boys.
“I’ve been going to clerical school out here since Feb. 7th and it takes-up practically all of my spare time just studying,” Parker wrote in March 1942 from Fort Logan, Colorado. “I’m getting pretty good grades, so I can’t kick.
“I’m taking six subjects and I go everyday except Sunday. My class starts at 1 p.m. and I get out at 10. I will graduate the 7th of April.
“They have started granting furloughs again, so maybe I will be able to get home after I get out of school.”
Sadly, Lt. Parker and his entire crew would be lost in a July 1945 bomb run over Tokyo.