Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the April 22, 2021 issue of the Polk County Enterprise. It is about the unveiling of a Texas Historical Marker for Lt. Col. James M. Parker Jr., a member of the Doolittle Raid during World War II.
Hundreds braved gloomy skies and the threat of rain Saturday morning in recognition of a Polk County hero.
Restland Memorial Park was the site for an unveiling of a Texas Historical Marker for Lt. Col. James (Jim) M. Parker Jr., a member of the Doolittle Raid during World War II.
Polk County Judge Sydney Murphy, U.S. Representative of Texas District 36 Dr. Brian Babin, Ben Royden Ogletree and Livingston Fire Chief Corky Cochran spoke at the event. Col. Andrew Camacho, TXANG Commander from Ellington Field chronicled the Doolittle Raid and Col. Eddie Boxx, assistant professor of aerospace studies at Baylor, gave Parker’s personal account of the mission.
Orders were kept confidential for 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers to leave aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet to bomb Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe and Nagoya.
Arrangements had been made for the 16 planes with five men each to land in airfields in an unoccupied portion of China. Launched earlier than planned, all but one aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed in Chinese provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi and surrounding islands.
Parker was one of the 64 American airmen that were forced to parachute. With the help of the Chinese, many of the B-25 crews, including Parker, eventually found safety. He and others received several medals and commendations for the operation.
Proud to be part of the Doolittle Raid, Parker considered all the Raiders and their families part of his family. Following the Doolittle Raid, Parker recovered from malaria and returned to duty, serving in the United States, Africa and Europe, retiring in 1947. He and his wife, Vonda, attended most of the Doolittle reunions until his death in 1991.
Parker’s family first moved to Livingston in 1931, where his father opened an automobile dealership. He graduated from Livingston High School in 1938, where he was an athlete who excelled in football and baseball. He then attended Lon Morris Junior College and Texas A&M.
The new historical marker may be found at Restland Memorial Park at his gravesite, where he is buried next to Vonda. The Polk County Memorial Museum will have an exhibit dedicated to Parker and the Doolittle Raid until May 22. Their regular hours are Tuesday-Friday, as well as the second and fourth Saturdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
