Veterans Administration letter to C. Walder Parke about veterans' benefits, April 24,   Save
Charles Walder Parke WW2 Collection
Description: Letter from the Veterans Administration responding to C. Walder Parke's inquiry about veterans' benefits. Parke had felt that he was owed a subsistence payment under the G.I. Bill of Rights for the month in between his discharge from the army and his full-time employment at Harshaw Chemical Co. This letter restates the administration's policy prohibiting payments if the person in question has a full-time job, and provides a copy of the G.I. Bill for reference. Charles Walder Parke was born on July 28, 1924, and grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in 1942 intending to be a pilot during WWII, but spent most of his military career as a navigator on B-17 Flying Fortresses in the 94th Bombardment Group. Parke earned two Bronze Stars, an Air Medal with several Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his successful bombing missions, including some over Berlin. He is best known for being on board a B-17 which was shot down over France by German planes on June 25, 1944, during a non-combat mission. The crew managed to make an emergency landing, and everyone inside survived. After the war, Parke founded the Cleveland-based Laurel Industries Inc., which became a prominent supplier of antimony oxide to the plastics industry. He died of Lou-Gehrig’s Disease on September 15, 1996, at the age of 72. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MSS1510_B01F30_003_01
Subjects: Veterans--Loans; United States. Veterans Administration; Parke, Charles Walder, 1924-1996
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio); Washington (District of Columbia);