Chick Parsons
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"Chick" Parsons was a businessman, diplomat, and decorated World War II veteran.
[edit] Overview
Charles Thomas Parsons, Jr., born April 22, 1900, in Shelbyville, Tennessee, first came to Manila in 1905, where he lived with relatives in Intramuros for three years and learned to speak Spanish. In 1921, he returned to the Philippines as a trained stenographer and worked as the secretary to US Governor-General Leonard Wood. Seeking opportunities in private business, Parsons soon ventured into the communications, tobacco and lumber sectors, the last of which brought him to the southern Philippines, where he met and married Katrushka Jurika. He moved back to Manila in 1929 to manage the Luzon Stevedoring Company. He also joined the US Navy Reserves as a lieutenant commander attached to Submarine Squadron 4 and served as Honorary Panamanian Consul in Manila.
When World War II broke out in the Philippines, Parsons was captured by the Japanese but released because of his Panamanian diplomatic status and permitted to leave with his family in June 1942. Once his family was safely settled in the United States, he volunteered his services to help the allied forces in the Pacific, reporting to General MacArthur. Parsons’ extensive knowledge of the Philippines and its culture plus an established network of trusted contacts made it possible for him to travel throughout the vast archipelago and communicate effectively with Filipino and American guerrillas, escaping enemy detection. During the Japanese occupation, Parsons undertook eight secret submarine missions to the Philippines, as well as several more by air, supplying guerrillas with arms, radio equipment, medicine and other supplies. He also organized and maintained extensive intelligence networks and coastwatcher radio stations throughout the country, which transmitted Japanese troop movements to the allied forces. In 1944, Parsons returned to Leyte nine days ahead of MacArthur to help prepare the guerillas for the invasion. Later, he accompanied the first troops into Manila where he arranged supplies for the starving civilians newly liberated from the Santo Tomas Internment Camp. After the war, Parsons resumed his business activities in Manila and assisted in rebuilding the country.
For his distinguished military and public service, Parsons was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross [United States], two Navy Crosses [United States], the Bronze Star [United States], the Order of Saint Sylvester [Vatican], the Order of Vasco Nunez Balboa [Panama], the Legion of Honor [Philippines], and the Medal of Valor [Philippines.] He never requested the Purple Heart for the several times he was wounded in skirmishes with Japanese troops, once by a saber that opened up the right side of his neck.
Parsons died in May, 1988, survived by his four sons, Michael, Peter, Patrick and Jose.
