[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14279]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO DON PARRISH

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I wish to recognize a distinguished 
Kentuckian and honorable veteran of the Vietnam war, Don Parrish. More 
than four decades ago, Mr. Parrish and his hometown of Bardstown, KY, 
suffered great loss: In the summer of 1969, four Bardstown soldiers Mr. 
Parrish knew well were killed in service to our country. This loss was 
one of the worst suffered by any town in the war. As the years pass, 
Mr. Parrish finds himself more and more emotional regarding his time in 
uniform.
  In October of 1968, Mr. Parrish was deployed to Vietnam with the C 
Battery of the Kentucky Army National Guard. Mr. Parrish and his fellow 
soldiers were reportedly the best firing battery in all of Southeast 
Asia. The battery consisted of childhood friends, brothers, and 
cousins. As boys who had grown up together to become men, they operated 
flawlessly as a unit.
  The battery was ``infused'' with soldiers from New Hampshire, a 
precaution taken in an effort to prevent too many men from the same 
hometown from remaining a part of one unit in case of fatal attacks. 
Regrettably, that did not prevent an attack by the Viet Cong on 
Firebase Tomahawk, resulting in the tragic loss of four of Mr. 
Parrish's Bardstown comrades and fellow servicemen.
  Mr. Parrish, a native of Bardstown, where he still lives today, 
worked for many years operating his family's business manufacturing 
concrete blocks. Eventually he and his wife Judy opened a bookstore 
together, which they ran for almost 20 years. Mr. Parrish is now a 
volunteer member of KET's Friends Board, which promotes KET in counties 
all over Kentucky.
  I am tremendously proud to represent such a remarkable man and 
veteran here in the Senate, and I extend my thanks for Don Parrish's 
service. I am sure my colleagues join me in expressing gratitude for 
his service as well. He represents the finest of Kentucky.
  A Kentucky publication, KET Visions, recently published an interview 
with Mr. Parrish about his experience in Vietnam. I ask unanimous 
consent that the article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                     [From KET Visions, Nov. 2016]

       Hometown Hero Parrish Served, Suffered Loss in Vietnam War

       Don Parrish has always been able to talk about his Vietnam 
     experiences. Not that it isn't difficult. His losses--and 
     they were great--affect him more and more as the years pass. 
     Emotions rise more readily to the surface.
       ``As time moves on, my emotions get worse,'' said Parrish, 
     who deployed to Vietnam in October 1968 with ``C'' Battery of 
     the Kentucky Army National Guard, an artillery unit of men 
     from Bardstown and the surrounding area.
       ``We went to Washington last fall to help our daughter and 
     her husband move into a new apartment. While we were there, 
     we went to the wall,'' he said, his voice breaking as he 
     remembered visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
       ``It was tough. I've been there many times, and the crazy 
     thing about it is that it gets tougher every time.''
       Parrish, a member of KET's Friends Board, a volunteer 
     organization which promotes KET in counties statewide, was 
     born and raised in Bardstown, where he still lives. He 
     operated his family business manufacturing concrete blocks 
     for many years, and later opened a bookstore he and his wife, 
     Judy, operated for nearly two decades.
       Parrish's National Guard battery was ``infused'' with 
     soldiers from New Hampshire. Infusion was a military policy 
     designed to prevent too many men from the same hometown from 
     dying in a single incident from the same unit.
       In Bardstown's case, however, the policy wasn't enough to 
     thwart fate.
       During their training and tour, the soldiers from Nelson 
     County worked seamlessly as perhaps only men who had once 
     been boys together can. In fact, the unit not only contained 
     boyhood friends, but seven sets of brothers and many cousins 
     as well.
       ``We were declared to be the top firing battery in all of 
     Southeast Asia because we were so effective and efficient,'' 
     he said with pride. ``Why? Because we went to school together 
     and we knew each other. So when it came time to do our job, 
     we did it well.''
       An attack by the Viet Cong on a rainy night at the 
     difficult-to-defend Firebase Tomahawk, however, was too much 
     for even the best of the best. In that summer of 1969, four 
     Bardstown boys were killed, plus another from ``A'' Battery 
     of nearby Carrollton.
       The story of that loss, one of the worst suffered from any 
     town during the war, has brought news outlets, television 
     documentaries, and authors to Parrish's door, and he has been 
     interviewed by CNN, CBS Sunday Morning, and more about the 
     fatal attack. He also shared his experience with KET in 
     Kentucky Veterans of the Vietnam War: In Their Own Words.
       ``There are a lot of guys who don't talk about it--except 
     to me,'' said Parrish, who returned to Vietnam and Firebase 
     Tomahawk in 1995, accompanied by other vets and WHAS-TV, 
     which produced a program on the trip.
       ``War is really difficult to win when you are on the 
     enemy's turf. That war could have been won had restraints 
     been removed,'' he said.
       ``In fact, it is said by many, and I agree with them, that 
     the war was won--because its purpose was to stop the spread 
     of Communism among the Far Eastern nations. And to that end, 
     we won the war.''
       When Parrish talks about Vietnam, he also remembers the 
     good times, the camaraderie, and fond memories, like the two 
     guys from Bloomfield, Ky., who raced one another with 95-
     pound Howitzer rounds in each hand.
       He has photographs, now fading, of the people he met--like 
     the Catholic priest who still served at the same church when 
     Parrish returned in 1995. The stray dogs they adopted. The 
     bunkers where they slept at night. These memories became a 
     part of who he is.
       ``I'm proud of my service,'' Parrish reflected. ``I think 
     we did well, and I'm sorry to lose friends, but that's a part 
     of war--a terrible part of war.''

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