An American War Hero - Vietnam War serving as a Seaman Apprentice (SA) in the U.S. Navy and attained the rank of Sergeant in the U.S. Army.
Milton married Diana Carol Bright born in Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia on May 10, 1969 in Portsmouth, VA. They had a daughter and two sons.
Obituary as Published in "The Virginian Pilot" on Feb. 19, 2015:
Portsmouth - Milton Herbert Parker, 69, passed away Monday, February 16, 2015. He was born in Midland, MI and was the son of the late Lloyd and Bessie Parker. He retired from the U.S. Army National Guard and was a member of Fairview Heights Baptist Church where he served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher. He is survived by his wife, Diana Parker; a daughter, Christy Litton and husband Brandon; two sons, Andrew Parker and wife Sherri and David Parker and wife Elizabeth; two sisters, Carol Glenn and husband Tom and Wanda Atwater and husband Bob; a brother, Fred Parker; seven grandchildren; and one great grandchild. A funeral service will be held 11 A.M. Monday, February 23, at Sturtevant Funeral Home, Portsmouth Blvd., Portsmouth, Virginia in the Chapel by the Rev. Paul Martin. Burial will follow in Albert G. Horton, Jr. Memorial Veteran Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Sunday from 2 - 4 P.M.
**********************************************************
Milton H. Parker served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War on the U.S.S. Forrestal, the Navy's third largest aircraft carrier (after the Enterprise and the America). "Time Magazine" featured the ship in an article about the brave men who fought the raging inferno on deck. Milton was singled out for his bravery and determination in more than one publication.
Excerpt from: "Naval Aviation News," October 1967
Compiled and edited by Senior Chief Journalist John D. Burlage
It was just about 10:50 a.m. (local time), July 29, 1967. The U.S.S. Forrestal spent barely five days on the line when tragedy struck. The ship was about 150 miles off the North Vietnamese coast in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Seaman Milton Parker of S-6 Division was just watching flight operations from the 09 level when the fire struck. Unable to get to his General Quarters station because it was cut off, he operated a hose on the flight deck for almost nine hours. He told how the heat of the deck burned both soles off his shoes, but "my feet are okay because I put on some flight deck shoes and went back in" to continue firefighting.
Seven major explosions shook the ship during the first four minutes of the horrific crisis, and some 40,000-gallons of JP-5 jet fuel from aircraft on deck spread the inferno. Huge clouds of black smoke billowed upward, blinding crewmembers racing to battle the flames, which engulfed the fantail and spread to below deck on the 01, 02 and 03 levels, touching off ordnance, trapping some men and wreaking havoc with the crew and ship. Survivors attested to bombs that appeared to be growing red from the heat dropping to the flight deck and blasting holes into the ship. More ruptured fuel tanks spewed volatile jet fuel from beneath aircraft onto the deck, feeding the flames.
Excerpt from: "Time Magazine," Friday, August 4, 1967:
Built in 1954, the 1,000-foot-long, 80,000-ton USS Forrestal was the first of the “supercarriers.” Having already served several tours of duty, the ship left Norfolk, Va., in June 1967, headed for Vietnam.
On the morning of July 29, the crew (which included future presidential candidate John McCain) prepared to perform the second launch in their fifth day of combat in the Gulf of Tonkin. But at about 10:50 a.m., a small rocket struck the Forrestal, dislodging a fuel tank. Suddenly, two A-4 planes went up in flames.
"Time Magazine" described the scene: “Fanned by 35-mile-an-hour gusts, fireballs leaped to other fully loaded planes, trapping the pilots inside. … Engulfed by flames and smoke, crewmen and pilots tossed rubber rafts overboard, then plunged 90 feet into the waters below.”
As fire reached the ammunition and bombs aboard the ship, crewmen rushed to avoid an even more serious explosion by throwing heavy bombs over the deck, some of them dying in the process. But the growing fire soon engulfed the ship. Nearby ships rushed to help but the fire took 12 hours to contain, killing 134 people and injuring 62.
Lt. David Clement later described the ship as “a mass of twisted steel, with holes in the flight deck, a vacant space where there had been many aircraft and a towering column of black and gray smoke and flames.”
Milton married Diana Carol Bright born in Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia on May 10, 1969 in Portsmouth, VA. They had a daughter and two sons.
Obituary as Published in "The Virginian Pilot" on Feb. 19, 2015:
Portsmouth - Milton Herbert Parker, 69, passed away Monday, February 16, 2015. He was born in Midland, MI and was the son of the late Lloyd and Bessie Parker. He retired from the U.S. Army National Guard and was a member of Fairview Heights Baptist Church where he served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher. He is survived by his wife, Diana Parker; a daughter, Christy Litton and husband Brandon; two sons, Andrew Parker and wife Sherri and David Parker and wife Elizabeth; two sisters, Carol Glenn and husband Tom and Wanda Atwater and husband Bob; a brother, Fred Parker; seven grandchildren; and one great grandchild. A funeral service will be held 11 A.M. Monday, February 23, at Sturtevant Funeral Home, Portsmouth Blvd., Portsmouth, Virginia in the Chapel by the Rev. Paul Martin. Burial will follow in Albert G. Horton, Jr. Memorial Veteran Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Sunday from 2 - 4 P.M.
**********************************************************
Milton H. Parker served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War on the U.S.S. Forrestal, the Navy's third largest aircraft carrier (after the Enterprise and the America). "Time Magazine" featured the ship in an article about the brave men who fought the raging inferno on deck. Milton was singled out for his bravery and determination in more than one publication.
Excerpt from: "Naval Aviation News," October 1967
Compiled and edited by Senior Chief Journalist John D. Burlage
It was just about 10:50 a.m. (local time), July 29, 1967. The U.S.S. Forrestal spent barely five days on the line when tragedy struck. The ship was about 150 miles off the North Vietnamese coast in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Seaman Milton Parker of S-6 Division was just watching flight operations from the 09 level when the fire struck. Unable to get to his General Quarters station because it was cut off, he operated a hose on the flight deck for almost nine hours. He told how the heat of the deck burned both soles off his shoes, but "my feet are okay because I put on some flight deck shoes and went back in" to continue firefighting.
Seven major explosions shook the ship during the first four minutes of the horrific crisis, and some 40,000-gallons of JP-5 jet fuel from aircraft on deck spread the inferno. Huge clouds of black smoke billowed upward, blinding crewmembers racing to battle the flames, which engulfed the fantail and spread to below deck on the 01, 02 and 03 levels, touching off ordnance, trapping some men and wreaking havoc with the crew and ship. Survivors attested to bombs that appeared to be growing red from the heat dropping to the flight deck and blasting holes into the ship. More ruptured fuel tanks spewed volatile jet fuel from beneath aircraft onto the deck, feeding the flames.
Excerpt from: "Time Magazine," Friday, August 4, 1967:
Built in 1954, the 1,000-foot-long, 80,000-ton USS Forrestal was the first of the “supercarriers.” Having already served several tours of duty, the ship left Norfolk, Va., in June 1967, headed for Vietnam.
On the morning of July 29, the crew (which included future presidential candidate John McCain) prepared to perform the second launch in their fifth day of combat in the Gulf of Tonkin. But at about 10:50 a.m., a small rocket struck the Forrestal, dislodging a fuel tank. Suddenly, two A-4 planes went up in flames.
"Time Magazine" described the scene: “Fanned by 35-mile-an-hour gusts, fireballs leaped to other fully loaded planes, trapping the pilots inside. … Engulfed by flames and smoke, crewmen and pilots tossed rubber rafts overboard, then plunged 90 feet into the waters below.”
As fire reached the ammunition and bombs aboard the ship, crewmen rushed to avoid an even more serious explosion by throwing heavy bombs over the deck, some of them dying in the process. But the growing fire soon engulfed the ship. Nearby ships rushed to help but the fire took 12 hours to contain, killing 134 people and injuring 62.
Lt. David Clement later described the ship as “a mass of twisted steel, with holes in the flight deck, a vacant space where there had been many aircraft and a towering column of black and gray smoke and flames.”
An American War Hero - Vietnam War serving as a Seaman Apprentice (SA) in the U.S. Navy and attained the rank of Sergeant in the U.S. Army.
Milton married Diana Carol Bright born in Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia on May 10, 1969 in Portsmouth, VA. They had a daughter and two sons.
Obituary as Published in "The Virginian Pilot" on Feb. 19, 2015:
Portsmouth - Milton Herbert Parker, 69, passed away Monday, February 16, 2015. He was born in Midland, MI and was the son of the late Lloyd and Bessie Parker. He retired from the U.S. Army National Guard and was a member of Fairview Heights Baptist Church where he served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher. He is survived by his wife, Diana Parker; a daughter, Christy Litton and husband Brandon; two sons, Andrew Parker and wife Sherri and David Parker and wife Elizabeth; two sisters, Carol Glenn and husband Tom and Wanda Atwater and husband Bob; a brother, Fred Parker; seven grandchildren; and one great grandchild. A funeral service will be held 11 A.M. Monday, February 23, at Sturtevant Funeral Home, Portsmouth Blvd., Portsmouth, Virginia in the Chapel by the Rev. Paul Martin. Burial will follow in Albert G. Horton, Jr. Memorial Veteran Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Sunday from 2 - 4 P.M.
**********************************************************
Milton H. Parker served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War on the U.S.S. Forrestal, the Navy's third largest aircraft carrier (after the Enterprise and the America). "Time Magazine" featured the ship in an article about the brave men who fought the raging inferno on deck. Milton was singled out for his bravery and determination in more than one publication.
Excerpt from: "Naval Aviation News," October 1967
Compiled and edited by Senior Chief Journalist John D. Burlage
It was just about 10:50 a.m. (local time), July 29, 1967. The U.S.S. Forrestal spent barely five days on the line when tragedy struck. The ship was about 150 miles off the North Vietnamese coast in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Seaman Milton Parker of S-6 Division was just watching flight operations from the 09 level when the fire struck. Unable to get to his General Quarters station because it was cut off, he operated a hose on the flight deck for almost nine hours. He told how the heat of the deck burned both soles off his shoes, but "my feet are okay because I put on some flight deck shoes and went back in" to continue firefighting.
Seven major explosions shook the ship during the first four minutes of the horrific crisis, and some 40,000-gallons of JP-5 jet fuel from aircraft on deck spread the inferno. Huge clouds of black smoke billowed upward, blinding crewmembers racing to battle the flames, which engulfed the fantail and spread to below deck on the 01, 02 and 03 levels, touching off ordnance, trapping some men and wreaking havoc with the crew and ship. Survivors attested to bombs that appeared to be growing red from the heat dropping to the flight deck and blasting holes into the ship. More ruptured fuel tanks spewed volatile jet fuel from beneath aircraft onto the deck, feeding the flames.
Excerpt from: "Time Magazine," Friday, August 4, 1967:
Built in 1954, the 1,000-foot-long, 80,000-ton USS Forrestal was the first of the “supercarriers.” Having already served several tours of duty, the ship left Norfolk, Va., in June 1967, headed for Vietnam.
On the morning of July 29, the crew (which included future presidential candidate John McCain) prepared to perform the second launch in their fifth day of combat in the Gulf of Tonkin. But at about 10:50 a.m., a small rocket struck the Forrestal, dislodging a fuel tank. Suddenly, two A-4 planes went up in flames.
"Time Magazine" described the scene: “Fanned by 35-mile-an-hour gusts, fireballs leaped to other fully loaded planes, trapping the pilots inside. … Engulfed by flames and smoke, crewmen and pilots tossed rubber rafts overboard, then plunged 90 feet into the waters below.”
As fire reached the ammunition and bombs aboard the ship, crewmen rushed to avoid an even more serious explosion by throwing heavy bombs over the deck, some of them dying in the process. But the growing fire soon engulfed the ship. Nearby ships rushed to help but the fire took 12 hours to contain, killing 134 people and injuring 62.
Lt. David Clement later described the ship as “a mass of twisted steel, with holes in the flight deck, a vacant space where there had been many aircraft and a towering column of black and gray smoke and flames.”
Milton married Diana Carol Bright born in Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia on May 10, 1969 in Portsmouth, VA. They had a daughter and two sons.
Obituary as Published in "The Virginian Pilot" on Feb. 19, 2015:
Portsmouth - Milton Herbert Parker, 69, passed away Monday, February 16, 2015. He was born in Midland, MI and was the son of the late Lloyd and Bessie Parker. He retired from the U.S. Army National Guard and was a member of Fairview Heights Baptist Church where he served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher. He is survived by his wife, Diana Parker; a daughter, Christy Litton and husband Brandon; two sons, Andrew Parker and wife Sherri and David Parker and wife Elizabeth; two sisters, Carol Glenn and husband Tom and Wanda Atwater and husband Bob; a brother, Fred Parker; seven grandchildren; and one great grandchild. A funeral service will be held 11 A.M. Monday, February 23, at Sturtevant Funeral Home, Portsmouth Blvd., Portsmouth, Virginia in the Chapel by the Rev. Paul Martin. Burial will follow in Albert G. Horton, Jr. Memorial Veteran Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Sunday from 2 - 4 P.M.
**********************************************************
Milton H. Parker served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War on the U.S.S. Forrestal, the Navy's third largest aircraft carrier (after the Enterprise and the America). "Time Magazine" featured the ship in an article about the brave men who fought the raging inferno on deck. Milton was singled out for his bravery and determination in more than one publication.
Excerpt from: "Naval Aviation News," October 1967
Compiled and edited by Senior Chief Journalist John D. Burlage
It was just about 10:50 a.m. (local time), July 29, 1967. The U.S.S. Forrestal spent barely five days on the line when tragedy struck. The ship was about 150 miles off the North Vietnamese coast in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Seaman Milton Parker of S-6 Division was just watching flight operations from the 09 level when the fire struck. Unable to get to his General Quarters station because it was cut off, he operated a hose on the flight deck for almost nine hours. He told how the heat of the deck burned both soles off his shoes, but "my feet are okay because I put on some flight deck shoes and went back in" to continue firefighting.
Seven major explosions shook the ship during the first four minutes of the horrific crisis, and some 40,000-gallons of JP-5 jet fuel from aircraft on deck spread the inferno. Huge clouds of black smoke billowed upward, blinding crewmembers racing to battle the flames, which engulfed the fantail and spread to below deck on the 01, 02 and 03 levels, touching off ordnance, trapping some men and wreaking havoc with the crew and ship. Survivors attested to bombs that appeared to be growing red from the heat dropping to the flight deck and blasting holes into the ship. More ruptured fuel tanks spewed volatile jet fuel from beneath aircraft onto the deck, feeding the flames.
Excerpt from: "Time Magazine," Friday, August 4, 1967:
Built in 1954, the 1,000-foot-long, 80,000-ton USS Forrestal was the first of the “supercarriers.” Having already served several tours of duty, the ship left Norfolk, Va., in June 1967, headed for Vietnam.
On the morning of July 29, the crew (which included future presidential candidate John McCain) prepared to perform the second launch in their fifth day of combat in the Gulf of Tonkin. But at about 10:50 a.m., a small rocket struck the Forrestal, dislodging a fuel tank. Suddenly, two A-4 planes went up in flames.
"Time Magazine" described the scene: “Fanned by 35-mile-an-hour gusts, fireballs leaped to other fully loaded planes, trapping the pilots inside. … Engulfed by flames and smoke, crewmen and pilots tossed rubber rafts overboard, then plunged 90 feet into the waters below.”
As fire reached the ammunition and bombs aboard the ship, crewmen rushed to avoid an even more serious explosion by throwing heavy bombs over the deck, some of them dying in the process. But the growing fire soon engulfed the ship. Nearby ships rushed to help but the fire took 12 hours to contain, killing 134 people and injuring 62.
Lt. David Clement later described the ship as “a mass of twisted steel, with holes in the flight deck, a vacant space where there had been many aircraft and a towering column of black and gray smoke and flames.”
