Historical Marker
Lt. Col. James M. Parker Jr.
Livingston, Polk County · Texas
Erected 2019
Parker's B-25, nicknamed Whirling Dervish, was the ninth plane launched in the Doolittle Raid, and it carried serial number 40-2303 in the 34th Bomb Squadron. Besides Parker as co-pilot, the crew was pilot Harold F. Watson, navigator Thomas C. Griffin, bombardier Wayne M. Bissell and engineer-gunner Eldred V. Scott. Its gunners claimed a Japanese fighter shot down over Japan. The bomber crashed south of Nanchang, China, one of fifteen that reached China and crash-landed or were abandoned by their crews.
What the plaque says
Lt. Col. James M. Parker Jr. Born in Houston and raised in Livingston, James Parker attended Lon Morris Junior College and Texas A&M University. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, with his first assignment to fly anti-submarine patrols along the Pacific coast. As the U.S. entered WWII, Parker volunteered for the Doolittle Raid, the secret mission which was the first attack on the Japanese mainland. In April 1942, aboard Whirling Dervish with Crew #9, co-pilot Parker and the B-25 crew successfully completed their bombing mission on Japan. Low on gas, the crew bailed out and were taken into Chinese custody. Lt. Parker returned to the U.S. and, after recovering from malaria, returned to duty and served in the U.S., Africa and Europe, retiring in 1947 with numerous decorations. (2019)
Where it stands
30.64977, -94.94568 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Capt. Hardy B. Purvis — 2.3 mi
- Margaret V. "Margo" Jones — 3.2 mi
- Site of the Town of Swartwout — 3.6 mi
- Early Roads in Polk County — 3.7 mi