Floyd Lavinius Parks

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Floyd L. Parks

Floyd Lavinius Parks (born February 9, 1896 in Louisville , † March 10, 1959 in Washington, DC ) was a general in the US Army during World War II . During the war he was chief of staff of the US Army Ground Forces and the First Allied Airborne Army . As such, he took part in Operation Market Garden , which directed air landings in the Netherlands behind the German lines that prevented Allied forces from crossing the Rhine . When he was promoted to major general in 1945 , he commanded the US First Airborne Army. After the war, Parks commanded the US sector in Berlin before moving to Washington DC to become head of the Army's Public Information Division. Later, in 1949, he commanded American forces in the US Army, Pacific . After serving in Hawaii , he became head of the information department, whereupon he became known as the "father of modern public relations in the US Army". He was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1953 and then served as Commander of the United States Second Army until his retirement in 1956 .

Early life

Floyd Lavinius Parks was born on February 9, 1896 in Louisville , Kentucky , the youngest of four children of Lyman Lewis Parks and Lizzie Pratt, b. Manly. He attended Clemson College and graduated in 1918 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical and electrical engineering .

First World War

Parks joined the army as a soldier in 1918 and was incorporated into the infantry that year. He served as a machine gun instructor with the 65th Engineers, the US Army's first tank force , under the command of Captain Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1918 to 1923 at Camp Colt, Pennsylvania. There he also served as a senior officer in Company A, the 333rd Tank Battalion, and the Tank Corps Reserve Officers Training Camp.

Interwar period

Parks was Major General Edward McGlachlin, Jr.'s aide-de-camp from 1921 to 1923. He received a Masters of Science degree in engineering from Yale University and graduated from Tank School in 1924. Also that year he married Molly Mitchel Trewbridge, but the marriage lasted only 3 years and they were divorced in 1927. In 1927 he became the commandant of Company A, 21st Infantry at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. From 1928 to 1932 he served at West Point as an adjutant to Maj. Gen. William R. Smith, superintendent of the United States Military Academy . In 1931 he married Harriet Marie Appleby-Robinson, with whom he had raised four children. Parks graduated from the United States Army Infantry School in 1933. He then attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , which he graduated in June 1935. He then worked as a trainer until 1937. From 1937 to 1939 he was an aide to General Malin Craig , Chief of Staff of the Army .

Second World War

Parks graduated from Army War College in 1940 and became a planning and training officer of the 2nd Armored Brigade, then he served on the staff of the 2nd Armored Division. In July 1941 he became Secretary of the General Staff of the War Ministry . In March 1942 he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the armed forces under Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair and later became their chief of staff. In June 1942 he was promoted to brigadier general. From May 1943 to July 1944, he was deputy division commander of the 69th Infantry Division at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, under the command of Major General Charles L. Bolte . In August 1944 he became chief of staff of the First Allied Airborne Army , later the US First Airborne Army, under Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton . In March 1945 he was promoted to major general. From May to October 1945 he succeeded Brereton in command of the First Air Force Army.

After World War II and Cold War

From July to September 1945 commanded parks the American sector and in 1945 was July 4, 1945 to September 6, commander of the American sector of Berlin . He represented the United States in the Allied Command , which allowed the four Allied powers to rule the city. This made him mayor of the US sector in Berlin. In October 1945, Parks went to Washington DC to become head of the Army's Public Information Division. He held this office from 1945 to 1948. In this position he announced to the press that Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower did not plan to run for either party, Democratic or Republican, in the 1948 election. From 1948 to 1949 he was Deputy Commanding General of the United States Army Pacific in Hawaii . During his activity as such, he flew over the Solomon Islands and witnessed the eruption of Mt. Bagana volcano on the island of Bougainville . His photos of the outbreak were published in Life magazine . The following year he won the All Army Golf Championship, Senior Division, held on August 13, 1949 in San Antonio , Texas . After serving in Hawaii, he became head of the information department, a position he held until 1953. He was promoted to Lieutenant General that year and served as Commander of the Second United States Army at Fort Meade, Maryland until his retirement in 1956 .

Next life

Parks became executive director of the National Rifle Association in March 1956 , a position he held until his death. He continued golfing and won the 1957 Mid-Atlantic Senior Golf Championship in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Parks often went golfing with President Eisenhower, and one time Parks scored a hole-in-one while playing with him. Parks died on March 10, 1959 after a long illness in Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington DC . Parks is buried in Section 30, Grave 664 of Arlington National Cemetery .

Awards

Parks' awards included the Distinguished Service Medal (twice), the Legion of Merit , the Bronze Star , the Air Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal . He has also received awards from abroad, including the British Order of the Bath and the Soviet Order of Kutuzov .

Honors

A golf course in Fort Meade was named in his honor. Berlin has a street named after him, the Floyd-L-Parks-Weg, in Berlin-Lichterfelde next to the former McNair Barracks . Parks was elected to the US Army Public Affairs Hall of Fame, Class of 2000 with recognition as the "Father of Modern Army Public Affairs." His estate is in the Eisenhower Presidential Center .

literature

Web links

Commons : Floyd Parks  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lyman Lewis PARKS / Lizzie Pratt MANLY. In: freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b U.S. Army, Pacific website ( Memento from February 28, 2013 on the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Floyd L. Parks papers, Eisenhower Library, 1916–1963. (pdf) Eisenhower Presidential Library, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f R. Manning Ancell, Christine M. Miller: The Biographical Dictionary of World War II Generals and Flag Officers . The US Armed Forces. Greenwood Press , Westport (Connecticut) 1996, ISBN 978-0-313-29546-1 , pp. 249-250 (English).
  5. ↑ Boom Squelched by Eisenhower. In: St. Petersburg Times. March 30, 1948, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Volcano erupts. In: Life Magazine. November 29, 1948, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Jack Mann cops Army Golf Title. In: Toledo Blade. August 14, 1949, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Who's Who. In: St. Petersburg Times. August 26, 1957, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  9. ^ Eisenhower Watches Companion Score a Hole in One. In: New York Times. October 13, 1957, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Biography at Arlington National Cemetery website. Retrieved January 4, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Berlin city map. In: berliner-stadtplan.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019 .
  12. ^ US Army Public Affairs Hall of Fame. In: army.mil. Retrieved January 4, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Parks, Floyd Lavinius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American general
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Louisville (Kentucky)
DATE OF DEATH March 10, 1959
Place of death Washington, DC