Ray Cabel letter to Mrs. Grace B. Parke thanking her for a gift, August 13, 1944   Save
Charles Walder Parke WW2 Collection
Description: Letter from Ray Cabel to C. Walder Parke's mother, Grace B. Parke, thanking her for the pair of socks she had sent him. Cabel writes in a tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating manner and apologizes for taking too long to respond. He also says he is enclosing a photograph of himself so Mrs. Parke can see what one of her son's friends looks like. Cabel was the turret gunner on the B-17 that was shot down over France with C. Walder Parke on board. 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_B02F02_003_01
Subjects: Military life; United States. Army Air Forces; Thank-you notes; Socks
Places: Charles Walder Parke WW2 Collection