Floyd B. Parks

Major Floyd Bruce Parks (January 16, 1911 – June 4, 1942) was a decorated aviation officer in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.

Parks was born in Salisbury, Missouri, the first child of James B. Parks and his wife Elizabeth Ann Bowman. James Parks was a widower with one son from his first marriage. Floyd Parks also had a younger brother, Billy Bowman Parks, born in 1921. Their father died on 3 February 1924.

Floyd Parks enlisted in the United States Navy in 1928 and served two years aboard destroyers. In 1930, he received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy. Parks earned the infamous Black "N" award, given for major infractions, on a number of occasions. He sang in the Midshipman Choir and was a member of Annapolis' water polo team, also participating in football and swimming. Parks graduated in the upper third of his class of 1934, and chose a commission in United States Marine Corps. He was appointed a second lieutenant on June 1 and assigned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for a year, before serving on the cruiser USS Astoria (CA-34). In May 1936, he reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola for flight training. While swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, Parks and an enlisted man rescued a Marine private from drowning, winning commendation for his "quick action, good judgment and swimming ability".

Parks was designated a Naval Aviator on 12 June 1937, and in August reported to Naval Air Station San Diego, California. The following year, he married Margaret Elizabeth Murray of El Paso, Texas. In June 1940, he was reassigned to NAS Pensacola as a flight instructor. In May 1941, he transferred to the First Marine Aircraft Wing, Fleet Marine Force, Quantico, Virginia, and trained as a dive bomber pilot. He remained in that assignment until March 1942, when he joined the Second Marine Aircraft Wing in San Diego for deployment to Midway.

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