Wukovits: When did you enlist in the Navy?
Parks: I joined on October 6, 1939. I always wanted to be a sailor
because the Navy was in our family. My dad and uncle served in World War I, and my
older brother was then serving on the aircraft carrier Langley. San Diego is such a
Navy town that is seemed the right thing to do .... so after high school graduation I
signed on.
Wukovits: Where did you go for traning?
Parks: Boot camp was in San Diego and lasted three months. It was heavy
toward drills and carrying rifles, things that seemed to have little to do with
ships. The closest we got to ships turned out to be rowing whaleboats in San Diego
Harbor. But it was during the Depression, and the economic benefits of the Navy
.... food, clothes, money ... were nice. After training, I put in for the
Asiatic station so I could be with my brother in the Philippines.
Wukovits: Were you able to get the Asiatic station?
Parks: Yes. In early 1940 a transport took me from San Francisco,
through Hawaii, Midway, Wake, Guam, then Manila. I never saw Pearl Harbor, but
Midway was still a primitive base. We dropped off some civilian construction workers
there. Wake Island also showed little preparation, and the Marines we let off were
unhappy to be ordered there. They considered Wake Island an exile. I thought
this was all a dream come true, though. I loved being at sea ... the idea that I was
on a little ship on an enormous ocean. The notion was exciting, yet serene and
peaceful at the same time. Some of the poor devils got deathly seasick, particularly
between Wake and Guam when we ran along the edge of a typhoon, but I never did. Huge
waves broke over our bow, and the ship was rolling and pitching, causing men to get so
sick they were groggy, dehydrated and always vomiting-but I liked it.
Wukovits: And after you arrived in the Philippines?
Parks: We entered Manila Bay 28 days after we left San Francisco. You
could see the huge guns on Fort Drum, built in the bay to protect against invasion from
the sea. Since there were no openings on the Langley,
where my brother was, I was ordered to the submarine tender Canopus.
Wukovits: Did you see your brother?
Parks: Yes. I visited him during my first liberty. He was in the
hospital recovering from an accident, and I hoped to surprise him, but my parents had
already written that I was in the Philippines.
Wukovits: What was duty like on the Canopus?
Parks: It wasn't bad. I was a mess cook, and I found out later that
they were the pool from which submarine personnel were chosen. I served on the Canopus,
which had a crew of about 300, for two months. When serving the food, we put it down
in front of the senior man present, who took what he wanted then passed the plates
down. By the time the junior man got the food plates, there sometimes wasn't much
left. The food was nothing fancy ... a lot of stews and roast meats ... but there
was a lot of it, so no one starved.
