Jose Maria Parra, age 23, from Salinas, California, Monterey county.
Parents: Mrs. Refugio C. Avina
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: On October 23, 2008, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant First Class Jose Maria Parra, missing from the Korean War. Sergeant First Class Parra entered the U.S. Army from California and served with Battery C, 99th Field Artillery Battalion, attached to the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, members of Battery C were supporting elements of the 1st Cavalry Division near Unsan, North Korea. That day, Chinese Communist Forces struck the 1st Cavalry Division’s lines, collapsing the perimeter and forcing a withdrawal. SFC Parra’s unit was waiting in reserve in the Naammyong River valley’s southern end when he was killed by the enemy during this action. His body was not recovered at the time. In 1993, the North Korean government turned over remains of U.S. service members who were lost during the Korean War, and because of advances in forensic technology, U.S. scientists eventually identified SFC Parra from these remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, San Bernardino County Sun (1954)
