PARKER, UDON

Name: Udon Parker
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry,
1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 15 November 1943
Home City of Record: Phenix City AL
Date of Loss: 13 March 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 130542N 1090755E (BQ975483)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 0270
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 1990 from one or more of
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence
with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W.
NETWORK 2020.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SP4 Udon Parker was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 327th
Infantry and was participating in a combat operation on March 13, 1966 in
Phu Yen Province, South Vietnam.

SP4 Parker fell into a stream about ten miles west of the city of Tuy Hoa,
wearing his full pack and gear. This occurred during monsoon season when
streams and rivers in Vietnam were particularly fast-moving and treacherous.
SP4 Parker rose to the surface once and was not seen again.

Search efforts failed to turn up any trace of Parker. About 10 yards
downstream was a waterfall, and it was believed that the fast-moving current
pulled him down and carried him downstream.

For Udon Parker, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others, however,
simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly 10,000
reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain
knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not
released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and
still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen
alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to
disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of
those who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in
the general public who realize the full implication of leaving men
unaccounted for at the end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still
alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today. What must they be thinking of
us? What will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to
bring these men home from Southeast Asia?

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From: TPorter149@aol.com
Date: Sat, 26 May 2007 10:12:33 EDT
Subject: Udon Parker
To: info@pownetwork.org

My name is Ted Porter, I was with Udon the day in slipped and fell into the stream. He was my best friend, we had just
shared lunch together. As we moved out, I notice him go to the stream to get water, as he bent down on the slippery rocks
 he fell in with all his equipment. We thought we could see him wedged between the rocks in a corner, I request they tie a
rope to me and I would dive in and check it out. The request was denied. We spent the night in that area, and the next
morning we search for him all the way down the river but could never find him. I want to remember Udon, I called him PK
on this memorial as all memorial day. I will never forget my friend.
 
 
 
                                                               Ted   

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02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KYpCEAW

SP4 UDON PARKER

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Specialist 4 Udon Parker entered the U.S. Army from Alabama and served in the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. On March 13, 1966, he was participating in a combat operation with Company B of the 327th Infantry when his unit stopped for a rest break along side a swift moving stream.  According to witnesses, SP4 Parker and others took the opportunity to fill their canteens.  In the process of filling his canteen, SP4 Parker slipped on a wet rock and fell into the rushing waters still wearing all of his load bearing equipment.  The current swept him downstream and over a waterfall in the vicinity of (GC) BQ 975 483.  After falling in, SP4 Parker rose to the surface briefly, but then was not seen again. Attempts to locate or identify his remains following his disappearance were unsuccessful. Today, Specialist 4 Parker is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. 

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.

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