Jim Parks to be honored on CBS

http://www.sonomanews.com/News-2012/...onored-on-CBS/

Jim Parks to be honored on CBS
BY KATE WILLIAMS AND DAVID BOLLING INDEX-TRIBUNE STAFF
May 24, 2012 - 06:49 PM
In a musty journal, under the date April 10, 1942, Jim Parks wrote, “Early this morning two ships were torpedoed direct in front of us. We could see flashes and hear explosions. Sighted an overturned lifeboat then a burning ship with three lifeboats in vicinity. Didn’t dare stop to pick them up as we have a full load of gas and oil.”
Chief Petty Officer Jim Parks spent six years on the Fleet Oiler Nashville, a 10,000-ton World War II workhorse. He bore witness to titanic clashes and mundane military operations, faithfully recording them all.
“August 8, 1942. Finished unloading cargo and took on some meat for our base at Jamaica. Left Cuba in the afternoon.” He tracked other details, too; the sort that make war bearable. “July 12, 1944. Arrived in Norfolk, 8 days leave. Started for NY to see my girl. Planning on getting married.”
Jim Parks will soon celebrate his 93rd birthday, and several million Americans will vicariously join in. That’s because a segment on Parks and the Star of Honor at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Park, will be broadcast on the CBS Evening News this Sunday, May 27, from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Sunday is also Parks’ birthday. (The CBS Evening News is carried on KPIX, TV5).
The segment, which took four hours to film recently, will feature an interview with Parks at the Star of Honor and will also deal with the Veterans Remembered Flag that he and others have been lobbying Congress to recognize.
Though Parks’ health has been in decline, until recently his thin and athletic frame still ambulated with almost feline precision. “I believe in moving the hinges,” he said last year,“Gotta keep the parts working or they seize up.”
A chief petty officer’s job is to manage a ship’s labor force, to move men and machines toward discernable goals. Getting things done was Park’s specialty. It’s a habit that’s followed him all his life.
He married his girl, just like he’d promised. Together they raised eight children. Later, when his wife became ill, her decline was precipitous. As the inevitable approached, Parks realized the only available burial place was a veritable Potter’s Field of neglect. “I couldn’t do it,” he says quietly. “I could not put my Evelyn there.” So he asked the City of Sonoma about the land behind the Sonoma Valley Veterans Memorial Building, thinking it might make a nice cemetery. A deal was struck, with the proviso that the cemetery be dedicated for the interment of vets. Evelyn, as his spouse, could rightfully rest there. It was win-win. And then Jim Parks went one furlong more.
The monument that anchors that burial ground exists because of Jim Parks. A team of conscientious professionals donated their expertise, and Parks lobbied everyone who’d stand still for labor or funds. But when the project stalled out minus its set piece, Jim Parks gathered his kids and asked them this question: how would you feel if I were to take my life savings and finish this monument instead?
Many gave, but one man made it happen, and today the Star Memorial, while honoring all veterans, stands solemnly and grandly as a special tribute to Jim Parks.
But his work didn’t stop there. Last year, still belying his age, Parks was still working the phone, making the pitch for one more special project.
“Only 13 percent of our veterans are buried in national cemeteries,” he explained. “I want recognition for the 23 million veterans who’ll be buried in private cemeteries.” To that end, Parks designed a special flag with a five-point star traveling across a green background. He imagines his flag sharing a pole with the Stars and Stripes at every cemetery where veterans lie, so passers-by can know in an instant: a hero rests here.
A card is wedged between the thin pages of the war diary. June 20, 1942 – “Saw her,” it reads at the top. Sept. 20, 1942 – “Took a cab to Austin, missed her,” it continues. On the backside the writing grows larger, serifs and shanks betraying exuberance. June 30, 1943 – “Flew home to dance with Evelyn.”