Henry Parham (November 15, 1921 – July 4, 2021) was an African American veteran of D-Day invasion and WWII.
Born November 15, 1921, in
Greenville, Virginia
Greenville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Augusta County, Virginia, United States. The population was 832 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Staunton– Waynesboro Micropolitan Statistical Area.
History
As early as 1794, Greenvill ...
, Parham was drafted in 1942 to serve in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. He landed on
Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, as part of
Operation Overlord. His battalion, the
320th Very Low Altitude Anti-Aircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion, downed 73 planes through the use of
barrage balloons. He was to have served in the
War in the Pacific
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
after
VE Day
Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...
, but his transport was delayed due to mechanical problems and Japan surrendered before he shipped out. He was awarded the
Legion of Honor in 2013. At the time of his death on July 4, 2021, he was the "last surviving African American combat veteran of D-Day".
References
External links
I Am the American Legion profile
1921 births
2021 deaths
Military personnel from Virginia
African Americans in World War II
United States Army personnel of World War II
People from Augusta County, Virginia
Recipients of the Legion of Honour
21st-century African-American people
African-American United States Army personnel
{{US-mil-bio-stub