Camp Atterbury Separation Center special orders reverting officers to inactive status, September 2, 1945

Military orders listing officers to be discharged and sent home. The orders specify that C. Walder Parke would arrive home in Cleveland on September 21, 1945. Parke was appointed to the Officers' Reserve Corps on the same day as these orders. In 1945, the Officers' Reserve Corps was part of the Organized Reserves, a forerunner to today's Army Reserve. The Army Reserve is comprised both of trained soldiers prior to participation in conflict, and of seasoned soldiers who remain ready to return to the field if necessary. Charles Walder Parke was born on July 28, 1924, and grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in 1942 intending to be a pilot during WWII, but spent most of his military career as a navigator on B-17 Flying Fortresses in the 94th Bombardment Group. Parke earned two Bronze Stars, an Air Medal with several Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his successful bombing missions, including some over Berlin. He is best known for being on board a B-17 which was shot down over France by German planes on June 25, 1944, during a non-combat mission. The crew managed to make an emergency landing, and everyone inside survived. After the war, Parke founded the Cleveland-based Laurel Industries Inc., which became a prominent supplier of antimony oxide to the plastics industry. He died of Lou-Gehrig’s Disease on September 15, 1996, at the age of 72