Cleveland College report card for C. Walder Parke   Save
Charles Walder Parke WW2 Collection
Description: Report card from Cleveland College for C. Walder Parke from the Winter session of 1945-46. Parke was attending night school at the time, so he was not fully enrolled as a student. Parke tried to use this report card as part of his justification for receiving particular veterans' benefits per the G.I. Bill of Rights, but his claim was denied because he was employed full-time at the Harshaw Chemical Company from the Winter session onward. 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_002
Subjects: Report cards; Parke, Charles Walder, 1924-1996; College students
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio);