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Kent Weekly (SS/DSV) (DBF), EMCS
to remember
Parsons, Charles Thomas (Philippine Guerilla), CDR.
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Contact Info
Home Town Shelbyville, TN
Last Address Philippines
Date of Passing May 12, 1988
Location of Interment Manila Memorial Park - Parañaque, Manila, Philippines
The American-born Parsons had lived in the Philippines since 1902. He was a successful businessman who was fluent in several native dialects and knew the Islands and their people like a book. In 1932, Parsons joined the U. S. Navy Reserves. In December 1941, he was called to active duty in Manila as a lieutenant in Naval Intelligence. In his successful business career, he served as Honorary Panamanian Consul in Manila. The Japanese did not discover his Naval Intelligence connection. After a period of internment at Santo Tomas, they permitted him to leave with his family in June 1942 because of his Panamanian diplomatic status. After a journey from Manila to Takao to Shanghai to Mozambique to Africa, the Parsons reached New York City on August 12, 1942. In short order, Parsons reported to the Navy Department Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where his presence came as a surprise because he had been listed as "missing in action." He presented a lengthy written report to officials there covering in great detail Japanese activities in the Islands since their fall. It is during this period that General MacArthur's request appeared for Parsons's presence at Brisbane. Naval Intelligence, Army Intelligence, and the FBI were loath to let this valuable source of information go, but after some negotiations, the General got his way.
Parsons reported to Brisbane in early January 1943 and was assigned to the Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB). He was put in charge of a project to establish teleradio units in guerrilla forces across the Islands and to strengthen and unify guerrilla leadership so they met standards established by General MacArthur and became cohesive warfare units. To accomplish this project, Parsons would have to return clandestinely to the Islands, a requirement he welcomed. He would become MacArthur's "Man in Manila."
Other Comments:
Also awarded the Philippine Medal of Valor "For conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty."
This award is equivalent to the US Medal of Honor
Commander Parsons was the man that General Douglas MacArthur called "The bravest man he had ever known."
