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First Name: Theodore

Last Name: Parker

Birthplace: Minneapolis, MN, USA

Gender: Male

Branch: Army (1784 - present)



Middle Name: William



Date of Birth: 31 January 1909

Date of Death: 27 May 1994

Rank: General

Years Served: 1931-1969
Theodore William Parker

   
Graduate, U.S. Military Academy, Class of 1931

Engagements:
•  World War II (1941 - 1945)
•  Korean War (1950 - 1953)

Biography:

Theodore William Parker
General, U.S. Army

Theodore William Parker was born in Minneapolis, MN on 31 January 1909. He graduated from North High School there in 1925. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy with the Class of 1931, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Field Artillery. He married Nina Mae Hill of Minneapolis on 20 July 1935 at Fort Snelling, MN.

Military Career

Parker was a graduate of the Battery and Advanced Officer's Courses at Fort Sill, OK; the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, KS; and the National War College. From 1935 to 1939, he served as an instructor at West Point in the Department of Natural and Experimental Philosophy.

During World War II, Parker went to Iceland with the first Army contingent to go overseas, and spent two years there. He returned to the U.S. to train an artillery battalion and then served as G-3 Operations Officer for the Ninth United States Army throughout its campaigns in the European Theater of Operations. After the war he wrote the book Conquer: The Official History of the Ninth Army in World War II.

He spent 1949-50 as Assistant Secretary of the Army, General Staff, and 1950-52 as Chief of Staff of the Tenth Infantry Division (Training) at Fort Riley, KS. During the Korean War, he commanded both a Division and Corps Artillery, and later an Anti-aircraft Artillery Brigade and Region in the U.S. From 1960 to 1961 he commanded the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley.

His service in the politico-military field includes three years on the War Department General Staff; a year in the Executive Office of the President; and more than three years in Paris with the North Atlantic Council (most of it as the Standing Group's Representative to the Council). In 1961, he returned to Washington to serve as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a year, and then as Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations of the Army from May 1962 to June 1963. On 1 July 1963, he was promoted to full General and became Chief of Staff of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE).

He retired from the Army in 1969.

Medals and Awards

Army Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit with Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster
Bronze Star Medal
Air Medal
American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
Army of Occupation Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Korean Service Medal
United Nations Service Medal

Foreign Medals

Order of the British Empire
Ulchi Distinguished Service Medal with Gold Star

In Retirement

After retiring from the Army, Parker served as Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation from 1969 to 1972.

Death

General Theodore William Parker died on 27 May 1994 in Tucson, AZ.



Honoree ID: 301   Created by: MHOH

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