Ship’s Cook (Petty Officer) First Class
Dad is looking for some of his former Navy AG classmates -- please let me know if you have any pictures of training or knew of him.
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Upon graduation from Great Lakes Navy recruit training in late 1942, Seaman 2C Harley Verne Parker transferred to Gulfport, MS and was assigned to the Naval Armed Guard Training Center. At Gulfport, he was promoted to Seaman 1C, and trained on the USS Wilmington (Gunboat No. 8); re-designated IX-30, it was renamed USS Dover in 1941.
While at Gulfport, and due to a training accident, Parker was selected from 285 men to serve in “ship’s company” due to his prior civilian job as a butcher.
In 1944 and after serving 23 months at Gulfport, he left Mississippi bound for Hawaii and arrived on the island of Oahu. In early 1945, he was transferred to NAS Kahaului, Maui where he was in charge of a two-man watch for ship’s company galley, where he was promoted to Petty Officer 1st Class (PO1).
Many thanks,
Donna Parker
daughter of Harley V. Parker
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