I-AM-THAT-I-AM
My name is Roger W. Parks.
I was born on August 19th, 1941 to Clyde & Blythe Parks in Flint, Michigan. I lived in Flint until I graduated from Flint Technical High School and enlisted in the U. S. Navy in September 1959. I went thru boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, Chicago, Illinois. After graduation from boot camp, I was assigned to Basic Medical "A" School, Great Lakes, Illinois. After graduation from school, I was assigned to the Naval Hospitals in Jacksonville, Florida and Rota, Spain. From Rota, Spain I went to VQ-2 at the Naval Air Station, Key West, Florida. From there I went to Advance Medical "B" School, Portsmouth, Virginia for 6 months intensive training. After "B" School, I was assigned to the USS PARROTT (MSC-197) in Charleston, South Carolina. From there I went to MCB-62 in Gulfport, Mississippi where I was assigned to Seabee Team 6202 and then 6204. While with the SeaBee Teams, we were assigned duty in Viet Nam from 1969 to 1971. From there, I was transferred the Naval Reserve Training Center in Columbus, Ohio. From Columbus, Ohio I was transferred to the USS QUAPAW (ATF-110), homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. While with the USS QUAPAW I made three west pacific cruises and then went to the Marine Corps Reserve Training Center, Salt Lake City, Utah. In December 1978, I retired from the military with the rate of HM1 (E-6). In July 1980, I moved back to my hometown of Flint, Michigan, where I lived until September 1987 when I moved to Winter Haven, Florida and then to Lakeland, Florida in 1998, where I currently reside. In May of 1996 I was diagnosed with Emphysema and Ideopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and was placed on oxygen. Currently I am on 15 LPM oxygen while walking and 10LPM otherwise, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On December 10th, 1987, I was married to Kathleen Walker of Detroit, Michigan. I have 3 living children by a previous marriage.