[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 162 (Tuesday, November 3, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     IN HONOR OF U.S. ARMY SERGEANT FIRST CLASS JOSE ``ROY'' PARRA

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 3, 2009

  Mr. FARR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of U.S. Army 
SFC Jose ``Roy'' Parra, a Salinas, CA native who gave the ultimate 
sacrifice in service of our nation in 1950.
  Born in 1927, Army Sergeant First Class Parra spent his days as a 
young child delivering the newspaper, The Salinas Californian. Roy 
learned early on the importance of family and hard work by contributing 
his wages to his family. At the age of 17, he joined the Merchant 
Marines and later joined the Navy before enlisting in the Army. After 
receiving a post in Germany for 3 years, Mr. Parra returned to Salinas 
in 1949, only to be called to active duty the following year to serve 
on the Korean peninsula.
  As a forward observer for artillery, Mr. Parra found himself on the 
front lines fighting north across the 38th Parallel and up to 
Pyongyang. His unit was ordered farther north and halted about 50 miles 
away from the Chinese border to await supplies. Just three months after 
being deployed, Mr. Parra was killed in action after he bravely took 
over a machine gun whose operator had been killed to repel waves of 
advancing enemy infantry. Sergeant First Class Parra was buried 
alongside 150 fellow American soldiers in a North Korean field where 
local Koreans placed unmarked crosses above the fallen.
  It took three years before his family learned of his courageous 
efforts in the moments before he was killed and decades longer until 
they learned the fate of his remains. In 1954, after three years in a 
prisoner-of-war camp Lt. Walter Mayo, Parra's commanding officer, wrote 
to Parra's family detailing how the young man from Salinas sacrificed 
his life protecting his unit. The prolonged wait to return Sergeant 
First Class Parra to the U.S. ultimately ended when a recent excavation 
of a burial field in North Korea turned up remains. As soon as the 
identity of the remains was confirmed, an Army sergeant was assigned to 
escort the body of Sergeant First Class Parra home. After an agonizing 
wait of over 60 years, in August 2009, his family was finally able to 
bury their fallen hero in Arlington Cemetery.
  For his dedication and service, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Parra 
was awarded the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the UN Service 
Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit 
Citation, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
  U.S. Army SFC Jose ``Roy'' Parra was laid to rest with full military 
honors. Mr. Parra's sister, Lucille Withers, led the fight to identify 
and bury his remains.
  Madam Speaker, I am deeply honored to have the privilege to share his 
story with you today and on behalf of my colleagues, want to thank U.S. 
Army SFC Jose ``Roy'' Parra and his family for their service to our 
Nation.

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