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Parsons, Douglas V. N.

Douglas V. N. Parsons U.S. Army Air Corps WWII
Douglas V. N. Parsons U.S. Army Air Corps WWII


 
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Date of Birth: 7/27/1916
Died On: 11/22/1997 Last Residence: 29532, Darlington, Darlington, South Carolina
Street Address: New Castle, Westchester
Service Number: 12046324
Branch of Service: U.S. Army Air Corps-WWII


Veteran Code: USAAC-126


BIOGRAPHY
 
Douglas V. N. Parsons

Douglas V. N. Parsons was born in New York in 1916. He had three brothers Argyll, William and Ralph. In Rye his family lived on Guion Road and were members of Christ's Church. He was a graduate of Princeton University in the class of 1938.


Douglas served as an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He spent two and half years in the South Pacific with the 41st Fighter Squadron 35th Fighter Group.

The 35th Fighter Group served in combat with Fifth AF, operating successively from bases in Australia, New Guinea, Owi, Morotai, and the Philippines. First used P-38's and P-39's; equipped with P-47's late in 1943 and with P-51's in Mar 1945.

It helped to halt the Japanese advance in Papua and took part in the Allied offensive that recovered the rest of New Guinea, flying protective patrols over Port Moresby, escorting bombers and transports, attacking Japanese airfields and supply lines, and providing cover for Allied landings.

Capt. Douglas A. Parsons Piloting "Monte's Menace" in Raids on Japs
Capt. Douglas A. Parsons, Rye, N. Y., is pictured beside his P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane which has carried him on numerous missions against the Japanese in the Southwest Pacific. He is a pilot with the Fifth Air Force in New Guinea. "Monte's Menace" was named for Miss Monte Nicholson, Darlington, S. C, whose engagement to Capt. Parsons was recently announced.

In 1944 the 35th Fighter Group began long-range missions against enemy airfields and installations in the southern Philippines, Halmahera, and Borneo, preparatory to the US invasion of the Philippines.

Beginning in Jan 1945, operated in support of ground forces on Luzon. Also escorted bombers and completed some fighter sweeps to Formosa and China. Bombed and strafed railways and airfields in Kyushu and Korea after moving to Okinawa in Jun 1945.

Douglas lost two of his three brothers while they were in service. His brother William Goodman Parsons died on February 25, 1944, while flying a P-38 escort plane in a bombing mission over Austria. His brother Ralph Peters Parsons died on January 6, 1948 the result of an airplane crash in Germany with the Occupational Forces.

Maj. Douglas Parsons Rewarded For Valor
FIFTH AIR FORCE, PHILIPPINES.
Major Douglas V. N. Parsons, son of Mr .and Mrs. Argyll Parsons, Guion Road, Rye, NY, has been awarded the fourth oak-leaf cluster to the Air Medal for meritorious achievement while participating in sustained operations l flight missions in the Southwest Pacific Area as a pilot with the Fifth Air Force Fighter Command's 35th Group. These operations consisted of bombing missions against enemy air fields and installations and attacks on enemy naval vessels and shipping. Major Parsons joined the Air Forces March 6, 1942 arriving overseas November 25, 1942. He is an alumnus of Princeton University and a former realtor. He has been home on leave after twenty-eight months overseas.

THE RYE CHRONICLE Friday, March 30, 1945

In a ceremony characterized by beauty and simplicity Miss Monte Hyatt Nicholson of Darlington and Major Douglas Van Ness Parsons were married in the First Presbyterian Church of Darlington on March 31, 1945. The ceremony was performed by the bride's former pastor the Rev George Hodges of Spartanburg. The couple would have two daughters.

Douglas was honorably discharged in 1945 as a Major from U.S. Army Air Corps. After the war he worked in sales marketing and was former owner operator of Snelling and Snelling Employment Service He was an active member of St Matthew's Episcopal Church serving as treasurer, lay reader, vestry member and junior and senior warden

Douglas Van Ness Parsons died Saturday Nov 22 1997 at his home Bora in Garden City Long Island NY. He was 81.

At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Monte Nicholson Parsons of Darlington daughters Amey Parsons Lewis of Darlington and Monte Nicholson Parsons of Columbia, brother Argyll Parsons, sister Eleanor Parsons Mitchell, grandchildren Ellen Gray Maybank Hogan, David Huguenia Maybank Jr, Amey Parsons Maybank, William Douglas Heinitsh, great-grandson Richard Holt Hogan II.

Funeral services were held at St Episcopal Church in Darlington, SC with burial in Grove Hill Cemetery.


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