Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Parker, R.)

Release No: 21-027 March 15, 2021 PRINT | E-MAIL
WASHINGTON — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Robert Parker, 23, killed during World War II, was accounted for March 9, 2021.

In November 1943, Parker was a pilot assigned to the 35th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group. On Nov. 15, he was piloting a P-40N Warhawk fighter on a patrol mission with seven other P-40s over the Markham River Valley, New Guinea, when his formation encountered a swarm of enemy aircraft on the southern edge of the Finisterre Range. After shooting down one enemy aircraft, Parker collided with another, the impact shearing a wing off of each. The P-40 crashed near Sagarak, and it was reported that he did not eject. After an aerial search of the area found nothing, Parker was declared missing in action. In November 1944, the War Department issued a presumptive finding of death.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.

Parker’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XekpEAC.