Obituary: Henry Parham, Last of A Black Unit That Fought On D-Day, Dies At 99

[appalachiablue]

Source: Pittsburgh Post- Gazette

Nov. 15, 1921 - July 4, 2021

Before 2009, the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion at Normandy, Henry Parham got little recognition for his role as a African-American soldier in a segregated Army during one of the most important — and bloodiest — battles of World War II.

When writers and historians figured out that the Wilkinsburg man was likely the last surviving African American combat veteran of D-Day, as his wife, Ethel Parham, puts it, “All hell broke loose.”

“We were just plain, simple people; we weren't looking for awards and all that stuff. Then all of a sudden, people got interested when they heard his story,” said Mrs. Parham, his very sprightly wife of 47 years. “Every Tom, Dick and Harry called here and wanted an interview, interview, interview. Before that, nobody really bothered. But after the 65th anniversary, people’s eyes were really opened.”

A veteran of the 320th Anti-Aircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion, the only all-Black unit to land on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, Mr. Parham died Sunday of bladder cancer. He was 99...

Read more: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2021/07/08/HENRY-PARHAM-320th-anti-aircraft-barrage-balloon-battalian-Black-unit-D-day-normandy-omaha-french-legion-chevalier/stories/202107070125

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[marble falls]

1. What a good story and great life.

[mpcamb]

3. Found this poem earlier today:

Lonely Eagles

by Marilyn Nelson
from The Fields of Praise: New and Selected Poems
Louisiana State University Press, 1997

for Daniel “Chappie” James, General USAF
and for the 332d Fighter Group

Being black in America
was the Original Catch,
so no one was surprised
by 22:
The segregated airstrips,
separate camps.
They did the jobs
they’d been trained to do.

Black ground crews kept them in the air;
black flight surgeons kept them alive;
the whole Group removed their headgear
when another pilot died.

They were known by their names:
“Ace” and “Lucky,”
“Sky-hawk Johnny,” “Mr. Death.”
And by their positions and planes.
Red Leader to Yellow Wing-man,
do you copy?

If you could find a fresh egg
you bought it and hid it
in your dopp-kit or your boot
until you could eat it alone.
On the night before a mission
you gave a buddy
your hiding-places
as solemnly
as a man dictating
his will.
There’s a chocolate bar
in my Bible;
my whiskey bottle
is inside my bedroll.

In beat-up Flying Tigers
that had seen action in Burma,
they shot down three German jets.
They were the only outfit
in the American Air Corps
to sink a destroyer
with fighter planes.
Fighter planes with names
like “By Request.”
Sometimes the radios
didn’t even work.

They called themselves
“Hell from Heaven.”
This Spookwaffe.
My father’s old friends.

It was always
maximum effort:
A whole squadron
of brother-men
raced across the tarmac
and mounted their planes.

My tent-mate was a guy named Starks.
The funny thing about me and Starks
was that my air mattress leaked,
and Starks’ didn’t.
Every time we went up,
I gave my mattress to Starks
and put his on my cot.

One day we were strafing a train.
Strafing’s bad news:
you have to fly so low and slow
you’re a pretty clear target.
My other wing-man and I
exhausted our ammunition and got out.
I recognized Starks
by his red tail
and his rudder’s trim-tabs.
He couldn’t pull up his nose.
He dived into the train
and bought the farm.

I found his chocolate,
three eggs, and a full fifth
of his hoarded-up whiskey.
I used his mattress
for the rest of my tour.

It still bothers me, sometimes:
I was sleeping
on his berth.

[marble falls]

4. I'm getting that book. The poem is alive, and not a speck of dust on it.

[dianaredwing]

10. Thank you more than I can express

An adopted child of the Pelican state. When I came here from PA in 1966, I had no comprehension of Jim Crow. What they showed on TV news was simply not real. I thought white only at the laundromat meant I couldn't wash my jeans there. Man oh man, what wonderful lessons I learned.

We must hug each other and love each other and thank each other for every lesson learned. To deny anyone the true knowledge of how this country came about it awful. We have fought and marched and loved and died (some of us) for the ideas and ideals (and yes, they were not realities in 1776) that those white men learned from the Enlightenment. We must always fight our worse selves, but when our better selves triumph we get things like Juneteenth.

thanks again.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Wow. R.I.P.

They probably sent the bulk of the black troops to the Pacific Theater (where my dad was). And with all that, this gentleman lived to see 99. Am glad he did get some recognition.

Thank you for your service and condolences to the family.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Rest in peace, Mr. Parham.

[ancianita]

6. RIP, Mr. Parham. Thank you for your courage, strength and humility.

[Johnyawl]

7. A veteran of the 320th Anti-Aircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion...

...I'm 71 years old and for all of my life I've seen pictures of Normandy Beach after the first wave and I've seen those Anti-aircraft barrage balloons tethered to the ground and floating in the air above the beach, preventing enemy aircraft from coming in low and strafing the guys on the ground.

Thus is the first I've heard that it was an all black unit that was responsible for those balloons.

Rest in peace my brothers.

[Evolve Dammit]

8. R.I.P. Sir. Salute. And thank you.

[wendyb-NC]

9. R.I.P. Henry Parham

You are a hero. Thank you, for your service

[littlemissmartypants]

11. ....

[turbinetree]

13. D-Day History of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion

Nearly 100,000 African American troops served in World War II. However, only one unit composed of entirely African American soldiers was involved in the D-Day invasion 75 years ago.

[appalachiablue]

16. Thank you for finding & posting this,

I never knew about this black unit at Normandy or the balloons, fascinating.

My father was anti aircraft artillery 7th Army, landed at Omaha after the invasion.

When Mr. Parham was going home in Dec. 1944, Dad was being shipped to Europe for the Rhineland campaign.

Henry Parham was a remarkable American who died on the 4th of July. The Greatest Generation.

[turbinetree]

17. Your welcome........

everyone in that campaign were all remarkable

[TomSlick]

14. Well done, soldier.

[Jedi Guy]

15. We're losing our greatest heroes, one at a time.

The Greatest Generation will soon be the Gone Generation. Though they may be gone, some of us at least will remember what they did and will celebrate their courage, honor, heroism, and service in the cause of freedom from tyranny. If you know a vet, thank them for their service. Ask them to share their stories, if they're willing. Keep their stories close to your heart as a reminder of what an entire generation sacrificed to preserve liberty. Pass those stories on to new generations. In this way, the Greatest Generation will never really be gone, and their courage will live on in all of us who care to remember.

RIP Mr. Parham. I hope the reunion with your buddies at the Pearly Gates was all you hoped it'd be.

[djm5971]

18. It's a shame they all were ignored until now

I salute Mr. Parham.