World War II Honoree

Isaac Parker

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Woodson, Arkansas

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Mess Attendant Third Class. He was inducted into the United States Navy July 31, 1941 at Little Rock, Arkansas, with recruit training at the U.S. Naval Training Station San Diego, California. Upon his graduation from boot camp and Culinary Schooling, he was transferred to the USS Oklahoma Battleship, BB-37 for duty as a Culinary Specialist, and based at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. On Sunday Morning, December 7, 1941 the Emperor of Japan’s Naval Aviators launched a devastating, surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base, and other military installations on Oahu. The Oklahoma moored on Ford Island along with her shipmates came under attack, and she sustained multiple torpedo strikes, which caused the warship to capsize. The Battle of Pearl Harbor took his life on the day of the attack. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the Honolulu National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific ‘Punchbowl’ Hawaii. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.