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MAURICE A. PARKER



Maurice A. "Chief" Parker
Former hief deputy
Maurice Parker, 74, dies

   Maurice Allen "Chief" Parker, who commanded Fort Campbell's Criminal Investigation Division as a soldier and returned to the installation as a civilian criminal intelligence officer, died Saturday at a U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division Association convention in Columbus, Ohio.
  He collapsed just after he was elected president of the association. He was 74.
   Mr. Parker served his country for more than 50 years first as a soldier later as a civilian employee; but both times pursuing his passion for law enforcement.
   As a soldier in World War II, Mr. Parker was assigned to the 1st Special Services Unit (the Devil's Brigade) from its inception on June 16, 1942, until it was disbanded on Dec. 5, 1944. During that time he captured 18 German soldiers, including two officers.
   After, the unit was disbanded, Mr. Parker served in the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He served in both the European and Pacific theaters and joined the: Parker Criminal Investigation Division" after the war. He also served in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He worked his way through more than a dozen criminal investigation offices, climbing the ladder from investigator to executive officer to commander. He was detailed to the Secret Service in 1968-69, covering both the Republican and Democratic national conventions.
   In 1969, Mr. Parker was honored as the CID's outstanding criminal investigator.
   His military honors include the Legion of Merit award, Bronze Star with V device, Purple Heart, Korea and Vietnam service medals, Combat Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge and Special Forces tab.

   He retired from the Army in 1972 and joined the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department where he served as a training officer, chief investigator and administrative  assistant to former Sheriff Paul Neblett.
  After nine years of service, Mr. Parker returned to Fort Campbell' s CID as a civilian criminal intelligence coordinator and assistant operations officer.
  
As a civilian working for the Army, Mr. Parker received the "Superior Civilian Service Award and the 3D Military Police Group Professional Employee of the Year award.  Mr. Parker was also an instructor at Austin Peay State University's Fort Campbell campus, where he taught law enforcement classes.
   The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Soldier's Chapel, Fort Campbell, with the Rev. Peter Fitzgibbons officiating. Burial will be in Resthaven Memorial Gardens.
  Visitation will be at Sykes Funeral Home from 1 to 3 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. today.
   He was born Aug. 6, 1921, in Sorrento, Maine, son of Herbert L. Parker and Evelyn Leighton Parker. He was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police, American Legion, Retired Officers Association, Special Forces Association, American Legion and Disabled American Veterans.
   Survivors include his wife, Marie A. Kromenaker Parker, Clarksville; one son, Lt. Col. Frederick G.. Parker, Denver; two daughters, Cynthia Parker Jolly, High Point, N.C., and Barbara Parker Murphy, Hephzibah, Ga.; one brother, Herbert L. Parker, Sacramento, Calif.; two sisters, Francena Cole, Sanford, N.C., and Alice Parker, New Hampshire; and three grandchildren.
   Pallbearers will be Jon Holloway, Stan Brown, Danny Wimmer, Charles McCarits, Ron DeLucca, Chief Warrant Officer Jerry Unruh, Col. Greg Lowe, Lt. Col. Date Perkins, Danny Fewless and Chief Warrant Officer Larry Price. Memorials may be made to the Maurice A. Parker Scholarship Fund for Military Law Enforcement, in care of Ron DeLucca, P.O. Box 285, Clarksville, Tenn. 37401.

[The Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksville, TN, 19 Sep 1995, Tue, Page 13]

Grave marker for Maurice A. Parker in Resthaven Memorial Gardens, Clarksville (Montgomery county), Alabama.

Maurice enlisted in the Army on 21 June 1940 before the draft law was fully enacted.

Sgt Parker was transferred from the 92nd Replacement Regiment to HQ 2nd, 508th PIR on 16 January 1945.

He was admitted to the 241st General Hospital Camp Sissonne, France on 8 March 1945 classed as a non-battle casualty.  He returned to duty on 15 March.

Sgt Parker was discharged on 1 July 1945 but re-enlisted on 8 September 1947.

He was again discharged on 25 October 1951 and commissioned as a WO-1 the following day in the MOS of a military police officer..

He retired as a WO-4 on 31 July 1972.

When he died in Columbus, OH after suffering a heart attack while attending a military reunion, the Ohio state vital records section, in part, stated that died as as an Inpatient at Mount Carmel Hospital-East, The time of death wss 01:11 PM,

Notably, it also stated that he had an education of 4 years college.  When he had first enlisted in the Army he had attained just a 4 year high school education.  When and where he completed the under-graduate degree is unknown but it was probably in the field of law enforcement..

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