Parks, Donald Lawrence, 2ndLt

Fallen

Service Photo

Service Details

Last Rank
Second Lieutenant

Last Primary MOS
7302-Pilot VMF

Last MOSGroup
Pilots/Naval Flight Officers

Primary Unit
1952-1952, 1st MAW

Service Years
1949 - 1952

Last Photo

Personal Details

Home State

Minnesota

Year of Birth
1929

This Military Service Page was created/owned by Pamela LaVerne Jeans-Historian to remember Marine 2ndLt Donald Lawrence Parks.

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Casualty Info

Home Town Henning	Last Address Grand Rapids

Casualty Date May 06, 1952
Cause Hostile, Died	Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location Korea, North	Conflict Korean War
Location of Interment Itasca Calvary Cemetery - Grand Rapids, Minnesota	Wall/Plot Coordinates Plot: IB2113

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	1952, Korean War Fallen

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Korean War
From Month/Year March / 1950	To Month/Year October / 1953
Description The Korean War; 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, came to the aid of South Korea. China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the closing days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, and liberated Korea north of the 38th parallel. U.S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments. Both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union and China—moved into the south on 25 June 1950. On that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83: Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation and dispatch of the UN Forces in Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UN's military personnel. After the first two months of the conflict, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter. In September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many of the North Korean troops. Those that escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, or into the mountainous interior. At this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951. After these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of conflict became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate. North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in air-to-air combat for the first time in history, and Soviet pilots covertly flew in defense of their communist allies. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no peace treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, have continued to the present.

My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year March / 1950	To Month/Year October / 1953

Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020

Personal Memories
Memories Killed in Action Died May 6, 1952 in Korea Second Lieutenant Parks was the pilot of a AD-2 Skyraider fighter the Marine Attack Squadron 121, Marine Air Group 12, 1st Marine Air Wing. On May 6, 1952, while on a combat mission over North Korea, his aircraft was struck by anti-aircraft fire and crashed