Captain Philip Hackley Parker [March 25, 1920 – March 23, 1945] was born to Herbert Hackley Parker [February 2, 1891 – September 24, 1981] and Allie (Hazle) Parker [October 14, 1892 – September 13, 1983] at his maternal grandmother’s home at San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas.  Philip’s paternal grandparents Dr. Philip Evander Parker and Lula Rex (Strong) Parker moved to Bay City from Arkansas in 1902.  Dr. Parker opened the Matagorda Pharmacy in 1906.  His mother was a schoolteacher who married his father in 1916.  Philip attended the Bay City School system and graduated in 1938.  Throughout his school years he was an above average student and enjoyed attending school.  In high school he excelled in football and baseball.  He was a member of the Latin Club, Dramatic Club and participated in the “One Act Play” in 1938.  He was also an avid golfer like his father. During these school years Philip by profession of faith, joined the 1st Presbyterian Church on September 29, 1929.   Phillip attended Texas A & M for two years taking civil engineering, but did not graduate.  In May 1941 he signed up with the Army Air Forces and in January 1942 was called to active duty as an Aviation Cadet. He completed his basic training at Randolph Field, San Antonio then attended pre-flight training at Kelly Field, San Antonio.  Moving up to Parks Field at Sikeston, Missouri he took his primary flight training, and then attended advanced flight training at Moore Field, Mission, Texas.  He received his Pilot’s wings and commission on September 6, 1942.  He remained as an Aviation Instructor at Moore Field after his graduation until 1944.  During this time he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in March 1943 and to Captain in July 1944.  He also served as a Squadron Commanding Officer.  While at Mission he met a beautiful young lady from nearby McAllen.  Her name was Nina Josephine Orchard, and she was the same age as Philip.  Nina was studying music, then later she majored in creative writing.  Philip and Nina were married by the Reverend Thomas A. Gray at the First Baptist Church of McAllen on the evening of June 5, 1943.  Ten months later he transferred overseas to the China, Burma, India Theater.  They were never to see each other again, and they had no children.  His first overseas assignment was at a base called Landi (probably Landikotal) which was located approximately 5 kilometers from the Afghan border in the Khyber Pass which connected India (today Pakistan) and Afghanistan. He served as a flexible gunnery instructor for the six months he was there.  In February 1945 Philip transferred to his new command, the 3rd Fighter Group, 28th Fighter Squadron, 14th Air Force at Ankang, China.  His squadron was located approximately 30 miles from Ankang at a village called En-Shih.  His assignment was tragically cut short when he was Killed In Action by Japanese ground fire while seeking out targets of opportunity over the village of Hsiang Ch’eng, China.  His crash occurred on the 23rd of March – just five days before his twenty-fifth birthday.  Philip was buried a total of five times.  After his crash three men from a Chinese underground group from Hsiang Ch’eng went out to the crash site and stole his remains from the Japanese and buried him in a secret location.  After the Japanese were pushed out of the province and it returned to  Chinese control this same group went out and recovered his remains and according to a translation of the recovery report: “dressed him, laid him in a coffin and buried him again at the Peiyang Agriculture and Forestry Research Station at the West end of the village. On his grave we planted a wooden tablet.”  In January of 1946 Army Graves Registration personnel removed his remains to the temporary Shanghai War Cemetery.  The entire village assembled in the town square to give him a hero’s send off. From Shanghai his remains were taken to Schofield Barracks Hawaii and on May 4th, 1949 he was brought home to Bay City.  His funeral service was held at the Matchett-Newman Funeral Home and he was buried at Cedarvale Cemetery with full military honors. Also in 1949, with his father Herbert serving as Post Commander, Bay City VFW Post 2438, which was instituted on November 24, 1940, changed its name to Philip H. Parker VFW Post 2438 in his honor.  Philip was survived by his wife Nina Josephine and her parents, his parents Herbert and Allie, his brother Eugene Earl, his sister Mary Elizabeth, his aunt and uncle Helen and David Boyd Hinton and his cousins, David, Lula Mae and Sarah Helen Hinton.  At the time of his death he was qualified to fly nine different aircraft: T6 Texan trainer; AT-16 trainer; P-40 Kittyhawk or Warhawk; P-47 Thunderbolt; C-78 Cargo Plane; A-36-A1; B-25 Mitchell; B-24 Liberator and the P-51 Mustang.  He was flying a P-51 Mustang when he was shot down. 

Excerpted from A Biographical Sketch of Captain Philip H. Parker by Kenneth L. Thames, 1990 by permission.      

Matagorda Countian In China

AN ADVANCED AIR BASE, CHINA -- Captain Philip H. Parker, 24, husband of Nona O. Parker, Box 441, Bay City, Texas, has recently been assigned to the famed Chinese-American Composite Wing of the Fourteenth Air Force. Captain Parker, a fighter pilot, entered the army, January 7, 1942. He was stationed at several fields in the United States, his last assignment before coming overseas having been an instructor and squadron commanding officer in the Gulf Coast Training Command. The Texan was a draftsman in civilian life, having worked for the firm of Freese & Nichols in Dallas, Texas. He is a graduate of Bay City High School and attended Texas A. & M. College.
 

Matagorda County Tribune, March 29, 1945

PHILIP PARKER MISSING

Word has been received here that Capt. Philip Parker, son of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Parker has been missing over China since March 23. As well as can be ascertained, Capt. Parker was flying a P-51 at the time he was lost.

Capt. Parker was reared and educated in Bay City and after entering service was stationed at Moore Field in Mission for quite a long time where he served as instructor. He married while in Mission and since he has been overseas his wife has been residing here.

The Daily Tribune, April 18, 1945
 

Final Disposition of World War II Dead
1945 - 51
By Edward Steere & Thayer M. Boordman

Captain Philip Parker
Additional Burial Information

After Captain Parker’s remains had been successfully recovered and identified at Hsiang Ch’eng on 03 February 1946 he was then transferred to the American Military Section, Hungjao Road Cemetery, Shanghai, China where he was interred on 25 February 1946 in Section A, Grave #455. He was to remain at this location until the repatriation program began in 1948.

The Shanghai cemetery was to be developed into a large overseas war cemetery similar to those in Europe. These plans were abruptly changed on 12 March 1947 by a directive from the War Department inspired by the increasingly unstable political situation in China with a civil war existing between Mao Zedong  and Chiang Kai-shek. Among the salient points of this message was the evacuation of all remains to Hawaii on the troop ship General Weigle. All the burials in the Shanghai cemetery were to be exhumed and boxed immediately, records of all remains to accompany the last shipment to Hawaii and records cross-indexed to show storage space location with the former burial location. By 9 April 1947 all the remains were loaded on the vessel. Philip’s remains were placed in mausoleum #3 at Schofield Barracks Hawaii until he was brought home in April [May] 1949.
 

FINAL RITES SCHEDULED TODAY

Funeral services for Philip H. Parker are scheduled this afternoon (Thursday) at 8 o'clock at Matchett-Newman Funeral Home with the Rev. Luke Bolin of the First Christian Church officiating. Burial will be in the Cedarvale Cemetery. The body of Captain Parker arrived by train here yesterday afternoon from Hawaii. Captain Parker was killed on March 23, 1945, five days before his 24th birthday, while on a flight mission over China. He was piloting a P-51. Captain Parker, son of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Parker of Bay City, was buried in Shanghai, China, his body later being transferred to Hawaii for reburial. The local post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars was named in the memory of this handsome young man who died for his country.

The Daily Tribune, May 12, 1949
 

IN MEMORIAM

Captain Philip H. Parker

Pvt. Jack W. White

Sgt. Robert W. Walker

Joseph Paul Lamb MOMM 1/c

On this Memorial Day we want to pay tribute to our beloved dead, our sons, who sleep in peace under the quiet sod or beneath the murmuring waves.

They are not dead; having died for freedom of mankind and with the love of God in their hearts, have found a new life. They are soldiers risen to the highest level, and they can become a living part of you and me--today, tomorrow, and forever.

In the destinies of men and in the glorious history of our nation their souls go marching on.

Because of them our lives will ever be free.

Because of them our great country will forever live, the exemplification of justice to all people under a real democracy.

Let us parents seek surcease of grief in this promise:

"Behind the dim unknown,
Standest God within the shadow,
Keeping watch over his own."

The Daily Tribune, Thursday, May 30, 1946

PARKER

Services for Mrs. Allie Hazle Parker of Bay City will be held at 11 a.m. on September 15 in Taylor Brothers Funeral Home Chapel. The Rev. Frank Seaman will officiate.

Mrs. Parker, 90, was born on Oct. 14, 1892, in San Augustine, Texas. She died on Sept. 13 in Matagorda House. A member of the First Presbyterian Church, she was a resident of Bay City since 1915.

She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Parker Barnes of Las Vegas; her son, Eugene Earl Parker of Jackson, Miss.; and by her sisters, Ellen Wood of Las Vegas, Tom Hazle Bivins of Longview, Texas and Mayve Kazmeier of Bryan, Texas.

Following the services, interment will take place in Cedarvale Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Craig Hinton, Allen Hinton, Glen White, Hart Soli, B. F. Schulz and Dick Bachman.

The Daily Tribune, September 14, 1983
 

Nina Josephine Carpenter "Nee" Orchard

Died December 6, 2002 in her home in Santa Fe, NM. Born January 4, 1921 in Gonzales, TX to John Farrar Orchard and Ida Hedges Orchard.

Mrs. Carpenter grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. She majored in music at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. In 1976, she earned a BA with Honors with a  Major in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at the Permian Basin in Midland, TX.

Mrs. Carpenter was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe. She was a published poet, pianist, and artist. She was a homemaker, hostess, gardener, Sunday school teacher, active member of the PTA, and Girl Scout leader. During the 12 years she and Al lived in Hobbs, NM, she volunteered at the hospital, the Cerebral Palsy Center, and the high school as a tutor for students in remedial English. She played duplicate bridge, traveled extensively, and was an unabashed lover of cats.

Mrs. Carpenter was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband, Philip Parker; her husband of 37 years, A. L. Carpenter; and a sister, Alice Elsworth Kirkham.

She is survived by a son, Dr. C. Leslie Carpenter and wife Margy of Sumter, SC; daughters: the Rev. Dr. Belinda C. Windham and husband Darrell of Houston, TX and Rebecca R. Carpenter of Santa Fe, NM; grandchildren: C. Lance Carpenter and wife Mary and their children: Maggie and Zach all of Lexington, SC, Sarah Elizabeth Carpenter of Grants Pass, OR, Samuel Windham of Austin, TX, Albert Bagley of San Pedro, CA and Emma Allison Bagley of Santa Fe; brothers, Malcolm Orchard and wife Mai of Aurora, CO and Jim Orchard and wife Claudine of Corsicana, TX; sisters: Neloise Cooper and husband John of Hartshorne, OK and Ruth Key of McAllen, TX; and numerous other relatives and loved ones.

A service of Witness to the Resurrection in memory of Nina Carpenter will be Thursday, December 12, 2002 at 4 p. m., First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe, the Reverend Dr. Shelia Gustafson presiding. Burial will be at the Bellville Cemetery in Bellville, TX.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial gifts be given to First Presbyterian Church, 208 Grant Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501.

Arrangements are under the direction of Berardinelli Family Funeral Service, 1399 Luisa. 984-8600

Santa Fe New Mexican, December 10, 2002

Photo courtesy of Find A Grave volunteer Charles Odum #161871687   Mr. Carpenter's marker photo courtesy of Find A Grave volunteers Tim & Gail Dorrycott #46836128

PARKER

Funeral services will be held for Herbert Hackley Parker, 90, of Bay City, 11 a.m. Saturday at Taylor Brothers Chapel.

Parker died September 24, 1981 at Matagorda General Hospital.

Officiating at the services will be the Rev. Frank Seaman.

He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Allie Hazle Parker of Bay City; daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Parker Barnes of Glendale, Arizona; son, Eugene Earl Parker, of Jackson, Miss.; sister, Mrs. Helen Parker Hinton of Bay City.

Parker has been a resident of Bay City since 1902 and was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, the Masonic Lodge and a veteran of World War I.

Burial will follow services at Cedarvale Cemetery.

Pallbearers include Hart Soli, Percy Harrison, Virgil Fetters, Craig and Alan Hinton and R. C. Blackman.

Arrangements with Taylor Brothers Funeral Home.

The Daily Tribune, September 25, 1981
 

Parker Family Information

Photos of Mr. & Mrs. Parker and Philip courtesy of Philip H. Parker VFW Post 2438.
School photo of Philip courtesy of Matagorda County Museum Archives.

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