Parrish, Lawrence Allen - Served in U.S. Army in PTO
Lawrence Allen Parrish was born January 30, 1926, the son of Francis and Edna Clemens Parrish of Athens, Illinois. He graduated from Athens High school in the class of 1944. On February 9, 1945, he was inducted into the U.S. Army at Ft. Sheridan, IL. Larry completed basic training at Camp Robinson, Arkansas where he trained as an infantry rifleman replacement.
In July 1945, Larry boarded the USS Colby Victory for the Pacific Theater of Operation in preparation for the invasion of Japan. While refueling at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Japan surrendered and the war ended on August 5. Larry arrived in Manila, Philippines Islands and was sent to General Douglas MacArthur’s Headquarters as an expert typist. His commanding officer was Colonel C.J. Berry, Personnel Director, Headquarters Unit. For the next 2 years, Larry was responsible to Col. Berry for correspondence, radiograms and personnel files. Larry remembered one special day, when General MacArthur got on the elevator with him. This was not following the protocol which forbids enlisted personnel from being on the elevator with the General. Larry hastened to exit, but the General grabbed his arm and invited him to stay on and ride upstairs with him.
After nearly 2 years on occupation duty, Col. Berry asked Larry to stay on as a civilian. Larry declined the offer and was discharged on December 3, 1946 at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He had achieved the rank of tech sergeant. Larry received the following awards: Sharpshooter Rifle Carbine, Asiatic Pacific Theater Medal, Army of Occupation Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, Good Conduct Medal and the WW II Victory Medal.
Larry returned to his home town of Athens, IL and married Betty O’Brien in 1947. The couple had three children: Linda, Jeffrey and Denise. Larry worked at Hummer Manufacturing, a Division of Montgomery Wards, had a brief sojourn with the Flying Tigers Air Freight Co. in North Hollywood, CA and ended his career with United States Electric in Springfield, IL.
Lawrence Allen Parrish
Athens, Illinois
August 17th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
It was an honor to meet Mr. Parrish in person on 10 July, 2009 and to receive this record of his story for the archives of the WW II Illinois Veterans Memorial at Springfield, IL. On behalf of the Memorial Committee, I wish to thank him for his service to our country during
WW II..
Shirley Harris
Story Editor