Tom Parker
1922; El Paso, Texas: A boy was born. They called him Al and sometimes Alton. He played on his trusted stick horse chasing bad guys and imaginary cattle, a Texas cowboy. 20 years, later an Army Pfc. at the induction desk, commanded: 'First name, middle initial and last name, in that order!' Thus Al officially became Thomas A. Parker, Tom to his new friends. From his occasional Sunday school as a youngster, he developed a deep belief in God. He talked to God. They became good friends. His wispy image of God had long gray hair, a thick grey beard and wore a fedora. Al and God kept their friendship private. In 1929, the family moved to East Los Angeles. But God didn't follow. He stayed in El Paso. 1929's East L.A. was a cauldron of Mexican, Swedish, Russian, Italian, Armenian, and Jewish immigrants and their American-born offspring plus Mid-West migrants. Alton was forged on the anvil of that environment and tempered by the Great Depression. His UCLA ROTC class was inducted in early '43 eighteen months after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Tom was sent to Ft. Benning Infantry School in Georgia. On the day the atomic bomb was dropped, he sailed by troopship to the Philippines. Peace was declared during the trip. In the Philippines he married his Colonel's daughter, Mary Jean. She gave them a daughter. After 5 years overseas they returned to California and added 3 boys. Mary Jean taught school in Pasadena and Tom worked in the import business and later as a building designer. As this is written, Tom is watching the Second Great Depression of his 92 years. 3
