Mitchel Air Force Base special orders for C. Walder Parke

Military orders from Mitchel Air Force Base assigning C. Walder Parke to the Ineligible Reserve Section, or IRS, of Continental Air Command. Continental Air Command, or ConAC, was established after WWII as the branch of the Air Force responsible for the Air Force Reserves and the Air National Guard. The orders switch Parke from being part of NARS, the Non-Affiliated Reserve Section, to IRS. "Non-Affiliated" referred to the members of the Standby Reserve who did not have an active assignment, but were available to be re-activated if needed. Members of the IRS could only retain the new status without consequence for one year, and then were considered for removal from the Reserves. Parke was discharged from the army completely on September 29, 1955. 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