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 Cpl.
Tommy L. Parker Jr., 21, of Heber Springs, was killed in an ambush in Ramadi,
Iraq, 60 miles west of Baghdad. He served with a sniper platoon of the 1st
Marine Division, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.
“T.J. was just the sort of
person who would help anybody, anyone,” his father, Tommy Parker, said. “I think
that T.J. just really wanted to do something for his country.”
Parker’s parents signed a
release to allow him to join the Marine Reserves at 17 years old. He went on
active duty after graduating from high school, his father said.
Parker and three other
Marines were killed by insurgents and videotaped lying dead in what appeared to
be a walled compound in Ramadi.
The videotape was
delivered to Associated Press Television News on Monday, showing Parker and the
others in the heart of the insurgent Sunni stronghold, without mandatory flak
jackets and with their belongings looted or strewn about.
The bodies were found when
the soldiers failed to report on schedule and a U.S. quick reaction force went
looking for them.
Parker was the 13th
Arkansan to die in combat in Iraq since the March 2003 start of the war.
A casualty officer visited
Parker’s parents, Tommy and Renatta Parker, on Monday. Two of the family’s
pastors were with T.J. Parker’s wife, Carla, and their 2-year-old daughter,
Lara, when they were informed later in the day.
T.J. and Carla Parker
started dating at the beginning of high school, Tommy Parker said.
Parker was a 2001 graduate
of Triple S Christian Academy, a school on a ranch in nearby Rose Bud, Ark.,
that is connected to the Bishops’ Gospel Light Baptist Church. After joining the
Marines, Parker served in Japan and Indonesia for about a year. He was deployed
to Iraq in February, Tommy Parker said.
T.J. Parker probably
decided to become a sniper because he loved hunting, his father said. He had
accompanied his father on deer- and rabbit-hunting trips since he was 3 years
old, Tommy Parker said.
He spoke with his family
often while overseas, and his wife was the last to speak to him on Sunday, his
father said.
“He talked like everything
was going OK, it was just another day in Iraq,” Tommy Parker said.
The Rev. John Bishop, the
family’s pastor, is comforting the family this week.
“I talked with the family
and their greatest comfort is knowing T.J. was ready to meet the Lord,” said the
Rev. John Bishop, the family’s pastor. “Their correspondence was very positive
before his death.
“T.J. to us has been and
still is our hero, along with every man and woman wearing that uniform today,”
he said. “We’re proud of each and every one of them. Our hearts and prayers go
out to everyone and everyone’s family.”
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