When the author was 15 years old he ran away from home, ending up in Havana, Cuba. His parents were not amused and not long after he returned he was enrolled in the Oak Ridge Military Academy for an attitude adjustment. There he learned discipline but he was still driven by a ramblin', rambunctious curiosity; summers he worked as a Myrtle Beach life guard. He went on to UNC/Chapel Hill, played lacrosse, flunked out, went with a couple of buddies down to Managua, Nicaragua but was chased out by what would become the Sandinistas. He flew to Florida, worked at a Miami hotel, returned to college for one more semester before dropping out to join the US Army.
THE VIETNAM WAR ITS OWNSELF chronicles his Southeast Asia war experiences; Parker was among the first in to Vietnam as a 22 year old Second Lieutenant platoon leader in 1965 and he was the last to leave in 1975. In between he married, graduated UNC and joined the Central Intelligence Agency. His first CIA assignment was upcountry Laos where he led Hmong hillstribe guerrillas against two divisions of North Vietnamese main line soldiers. His detailed account of this top secret activity was published in hard back by the Naval Institute Press, titled CODENAME MULE - reprinted in paperback by St Martin's Press as COVERT OPS. Further details about one of the major battles in the Secret War was published as TIMELINE: BATTLE FOR SKYLINE RIDGE. Random House's LAST MAN OUT chronicles Parker's military experience in Vietnam. He also authored CovertOps: The CIA's
Secret War in Laos.
After para-military chores in Laos/Vietnam, Parker went on to serve undercover as a spy handler in the CIA's Directorate of Operations, retiring in 1992.
In the military he received the Bronze Star with "V" and the Purple Heart. In the CIA, he received two
Certificates of Outstanding Service, a Certificate of Distinction and the Intelligence Medal.
He was called back to work for the CIA after 9/11, but has re-retired to Las Vegas, Nevada
Now there's an extra special reason to be at the Veterans Club meeting early next Tuesday. (As if making sure you have a good seat in the Delaware Room to hear ex-CIA agent Jim "Mule" Parker, our guest speaker for May, wasn't enough.)
Between 6 and 6:30 pm the catering staff from Green Valley Ranch will be delivering a variety of yummy hand-made sandwiches, along with bags of chips and pastries. They'll bring plenty of soda and water too to help you wash down all the goodies before Mule takes the floor.
The Green Valley Ranch resort says it decided to cater our May 10 meeting as a way of saluting the SCA Veterans Club during Station Casinos' Month of Honor for service veterans. Please come join us for Jim Parkers fascinating insights into the Vietnam war and also some great food by GVR