Lessons from Personal and Family History: Sussex County's Greatest Generation
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One’s own history can be the greatest educator. A passion for understanding what each generation brings can lead to greatly helping others through writing, teaching, and inspiring. This is Leesburg resident and author Deborah L. Parker‘s story. Join her as she maps her family and personal chronicles beginning with her pre-civil rights era upbringing in Waverly, Virginia, located in Sussex County. Raised by a determined single mother in the home of wise maternal grandparents and surrounded by encouraging extended family that instilled in her a strong belief system, Parker dubbed them part of that “greatest generation”. From her rural home with no indoor plumbing to careers as an army reserve officer, corporate manager, and now owner of The DPJ Training Group, Parker continually builds on that generation’s lessons of pushing through adversity. She has authored four nonfiction books, to include her signature autobiography, Navigating Life’s Roadways along with an inspirational leadership biography on her late uncle, entitled Hardcore Leadership. He was a retired Command Sergeant Major, Vietnam Veteran, Airborne Ranger Hall of Fame inductee, and community advocate who served as Chair of the Board of Supervisors for Sussex County and was honored with a resolution from the Virginia House of Delegates for his visionary leadership. Parker, through her company, The DPJ Training Group, provides motivational speaking, leadership and personal development, coaching, and seminars for a variety of clients
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Lessons from Personal and Family History: Sussex County's Greatest Generation
- 1. Sussex County’s Greatest Generation Lessons from Personal and Family History in Waverly Virginia Deborah L. Parker Speaker, Author, Veteran The DPJ Training Group dlparker6@verizon.net www.thedpjtraininggroup.com
- 2. Presentation Format • Beginnings • Milestones • Celebrations • Endings
- 3. History’s Teaching Points • Extract • Reconcile • Preserve • Share • Give Honor • Legacy Noted
- 4. The family is our refuge and our springboard; nourished on it, we can advance to new horizons. In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future. Alex Haley
- 5. Yield
- 6. BEGINNINGS
- 7. My stock and mother, the late Mary Parker Brown
- 8. Lessons of The Journey Begin
- 9. Family
- 10. Emphasis on Learning: World Book Encyclopedias
- 11. Wise Counsel for The DPJ Training Group Pearl and Joseph Parker
- 12. Veteran of Battle and Life - My late uncle Harris L. Parker aka Hardcore
- 13. Road Warriors
- 14. Extended Generation of Family Support Life’s “Old Soldiers”
- 15. The Environment’s Challenges and Comforts
- 16. Resources to Never Forget
- 17. Prime Your Pump Lesson
- 18. Lessons to Sit On
- 19. Learning Rituals
- 20. Surroundings of The Times
- 23. Play and Learn the Course
- 24. Pushing to Know
- 29. MILESTONES
- 30. Education Matters – Claim the Prize
- 31. Serve and Tough it Out
- 32. Write On!
- 33. Follow the Signs
- 34. Claim and Own It!
- 35. Grow and Hang With Them!
- 36. It Take a Village
- 37. CELEBRATIONS
- 38. 50 Years of Wise Lessons
- 40. Heroines of My History
- 41. Holidays
- 42. The Pie is a Symbol
- 43. Troops and Turkey Protocol
- 45. Try! Make a Difference
- 46. Honor Your Labor
- 47. Lead History
- 48. Explore Your Beginnings Beyond
- 49. Go Home
- 50. Find Your Roots
- 51. Share the Rewards of Service
- 52. Mark Your Spot: A Centennial of Service and Sisterhood
- 53. New Heights to Navigate
- 54. Make it Happen
- 55. What Were the Lessons?
- 56. Vision Made Plain, Again
- 57. ENDINGS
- 58. Grit to Glory
- 59. Imprints of Our Story
- 60. RHOF inductee Harris L. Parker include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal and Vietnam Cross of dies December 7, 2011 Gallantry. During a career that spanned 30 years, he served with distinction in Retired CSM Harris L. Parker, a Vietnam veteran and 2002 inductee a wide range of positions, including ROTC instructor at Tuskegee into the Ranger Hall of Fame, died Dec. 7, 2011, at Southside Institute in Alabama and Princeton University in New Jersey. He was Regional Medical Center in Petersburg, VA. Parker, who began his also command sergeant major of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command Army career in 1954 at Fort Jackson, SC, was from Waverly, VA. at Ft. Sheridan, IL. His decision to join the Army “proved to be While stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC, with the 82 nd the beginning of a progressive and proud time that provided him Airborne Division, Parker obtained a bachelor of arts degree from valuable training in the art of leadership, tactics and organization,” Fayetteville State University. according to his niece, retired LTC Deborah L. Parker, US Army His family called him “Hardcore” for his Reserves. toughness and pursuit of “After completing parachute excellence. training, Ranger Parker moved with the His connection to the 11th Airborne Division to Germany on military continued after his Operation Gyroscope in 1955, the first retirement from the Army. of a career defined by assignments in Parker was a member of elite units,” notes his RHOF biography. the Veterans of Foreign Wars “In 1955, he was hand picked as a and the Association of the cadre member for the 101 st Airborne U.S. Army. He was a Division RECONDO School as the member of Tri Cities 555th forerunner for Army divisions in small (Triple Nickel) Parachute unit leadership, reconnaissance and Infantry Association, which honors black soldiers of patrolling techniques. WW II, and served a term as the association’s national president. “From July 1962 to January 1966, SGT Parker served as an Parker continued his educational pursuits, completing a master’s instructor and class tactical noncommissioned officer in the Ft. Benning degree in educational guidance counseling from Virginia State phase of the U.S. Army Ranger School.” University, where he served as a counselor. His success was reflected in the “outstanding qualifications of He was chief magistrate of the Sixth Judicial District of Virginia and Rangers who proceeded from his area of responsibility and in their received a Supreme Court of Virginia Distinguished Service Award for opinions of him as an instructor.” his outstanding service upon retiring in 2005. He was active in civic Ranger Parker served two combat tours in Vietnam, “serving and and community organizations and was elected chair of the board of fighting with the courageous Vietnamese Rangers in 1966. In 1971, he supervisors for Sussex County. He worked with Project Discovery and was assigned as a team sergeant of A-431, Special Forces was on the board of directors for John Tyler Community College. He Detachment B-43, Republic of Vietnam. He was a member of Special was a life-long member of Liberty Baptist Church in Waverly, where his Forces funeral was held Dec. 16, followed by interment at Horton Veteran’s personnel and Ranger officers tasked by USARV to train Cambodian Cemetery in Suffolk, Va. battalions within the Republic of South Vietnam.” Ranger Parker is survived by four children, two brothers and one Ranger Parker received a direct appointment to captain in the U.S. sister alongwith numerous grandchildren, nieces, Army Reserves in March 1975. He retired as command sergeant nephews and cousins. Major of the Sixth U.S. Army in 1984. His awards
- 61. Legacy Work
- 62. Home Again – The Town That Taught Me
- 63. Faith to Faith
- 64. Lesson Track • Tenacious • Resolute • Able • Caring • Kindred
- 65. History’s Teaching Points • Extract • Reconcile • Preserve • Share • Give Honor • Legacy Noted
- 66. Your Legacy • Do more than exist… live. • Do more than touch… feel. • Do more than look… observe. • Do more than read… absorb. • Do more than hear… listen. • Do more than listen…understand. • Do more than think…ponder. • Do more than talk…say something. John H. Rhoades
- 67. Deborah L. Parker The DPJ Training Group Author Books and Websites Hardcore Leadership http://11hardcoreleadershiplessons.wordpress.com/ For People of Strength, Soul, and Spirit http://peopleofsoulandspirit.wordpress.com/ Navigating Life’s Roadways http://www.navigatinglifesroadways.com/
Editor's Notes
- Sussex established 1754, sits in gateway, historic belt to Surry Williamsburg, Petersburg battlefields, approx 12, 000 residents
- My 3 published books in print.
- The road I grew up on in Waverly Virginia
- My mother’s high school graduation picture and diploma. Important because I was born in her senior year but she went back to finish high school the following year. No easy feat for a poor young woman in a struggling community in 1955. Her grit and my grandparent’s support! As three more children arrived, she did get married but was abandoned by my stepfather by the time I was five.
- Me at four years old. My mother had the picture done and my stepfather, who was stationed in Korea, had it inlaid to this scenery.
- My mother was a single parent of four children whom she loved and focused on being a devoted parent to. This picture was taken in 1968.
- My mother invested in these to help us with our homework and research papers, since there was no library in our hometown.
- My maternal grandparents, two of the wisest people I’ve ever known. Spiritual business associates of The DPJ Training Group. Deborah, Pearl and Joseph.
- My late and favorite uncle, whose life and leadership I chronicle in my book, Hardcore Leadership: 11 Master Lessons from My Airborne Ranger Uncle’s Final Jump.
- My mother’s other two brothers, James and Joseph, retired professional truck drivers. Their influence helped me when I worked as an operations supervisor at then Mobil Oil, and I supervised 27 truck drivers and plant personnel.
- Other aunts and family members.
- A painting that depicts what the back porch of the house I grew up in looked like. Ringer washer, outhouse in the background.
- I lived in a home with no indoor plumbing until I left for college. Learned a lot about unpleasant chores that had to be done for our comfort.
- We used a community well with a pump and at times had to figure out how to get it going to produce the water!
- Family heirlooms. A stool my grandfather built that I used to sit on by the fire. My mother loved coffee so this is her coffee pot. A pan that my grandmother used to bake sweet potatoes as a treat (and I still do). My grandfather also baked peanuts for a snack in this pan.
- My school pictures and a graded paper from my high school English teacher. First sign I wanted to become an author.
- My hometown of Waverly Virginia
- A railroad crossing and then the other end of the road I grew up on with a service station that had a white only sign on an outdoor bathroom.
- A local store that we used to walk to as kids and learn how to count money, swap soda bottles and make purchases.
- The woods adjacent to our house that we played in, creating our own adventures.
- The school that my mother, an aunt and uncles graduated from which offered the first high school education for blacks in our county. Now they had an association that provides scholarships and social events.
- My elementary school
- Liberty Baptist Church in Waverly where I was baptized at 9 years old.
- Where my grandfather bought a lot of his peanuts in Wakefield Virginia.
- A famed local southern style restaurant in Wakefield (seven miles from Waverly)
- My late mother’s home that she bought in 1984.
- My graduation day from The College of William and Mary in 1977.
- Service to my country – Being pinned as an army 2LT in 1979 by my mother and Uncle Horace aka Hardcore. Other pictures in uniform and receiving an award from a general when I was a major.
- The first article I ever wrote which was published in a newspaper on Fort Dix, NJ.
- An article in the army times about my starting a training company in 1993, now known as The DPJ Training Group.
- My mother loved her home!
- My mother was a dedicated grandmother and took trips with her grandkids.
- I love being an aunt and spending time with my nephew and nieces as a critical part of helping to raise them as well.
- Significant symbols of my journey, faith on the wall of my den.
- With my maternal grandparents at their 50 th wedding anniversary in July 1982.
- My grandparents, mother, aunt and uncles at their parents 50 th wedding anniversary.
- With my mother and grandmother at a family wedding in 1980
- My mother and siblings at my home for a Christmas celebration in 1994.
- With my grandmother at a family Thanksgiving gathering in 1985. She and my mother could bake a mean sweet potato pie, a staple and loved dessert in our culture.
- When I was stationed in Seoul Korea, I spent Thanksgiving Day with the troops in dress blue uniform, a tradition.
- An article about Hardcore in our hometown newspaper when he retired after 30 years of service as Command Sergeant Major of Sixth Army, Presidio San Francisco
- Harris L. Parker, aka, ran for mayor of Waverly after he retired from the army and returned to his beloved hometown.
- My mother and Uncle Horace on the way to her 25 year recognition dinner of employment at Allied Chemical in Hopewell
- Uncle Horace, aka Hardcore served as National President of the Triple Nickel, 555 th Parachute Infantry Association which honors the first black paratroopers. Here he receives an acknowledgment of the organization's 50 th anniversary from President Clinton in 1944.
- In 1996 I took my first journey to Africa, Dakar Senegal and visited Goree Island which was where slaves were held before being shipped off to the Americas. I’m holding chains from the dungeons.
- My pilgrimage noted!
- In 2009 I took the DNA test to find my African ancestry. The results came back Nigerian. Uncle Horace took the test for the male side of the family which also came back Nigerian (Igbo).
- Uncle Horace speaking for a Veteran’s Day ceremony in Waverly, November 2010
- At William and Mary I was a 1976 charter member of Mu Upsilon chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. which the national organization is celebrating 100 years of service and sisterhood in 2013. It was founded at Howard University by 22 women in January 2013.
- I love to travel and on a December 2002 trip to Maui, did a bicycle ride down the volcano.
- My first book, a motivational autobiography, published in July 2011. In print and Kindle eBook, sharing my setbacks and successes. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008FQDPYE
- An eBook on Kindle, which is a collection of essays, blogs, articles, and poems I’ve been writing for over 20 years. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008D6RJ0M
- At a booksigning during the release of my 3 rd book, For People of Strength, Soul and Spirit: 7 Guidelines for Life & Career Success ( October 2012) focus on African American goal achievement (print and Kindle eBook) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AJJKY2G
- My mother passed on March 10, 2010. Love and miss her so much!
- A January 2012 article about my first book in our hometown newspaper shortly after Uncle Horace passed (Dec 2011). I noted then that I planned to write a book about his life.
- Ranger announcement on the passing of Uncle Horace aka Hardcore.
- February 2013 yielded “Hardcore Leadership: 11 Master Lessons from My Airborne Ranger Uncle’s “Final Jump” http://www.amazon.com/dp/1479324760
- I officially launched Hardcore Leadership in our hometown, which now has a library!
- I am inspired by the faith of my family and how it shows up. Here’s a scroll of the Lord’s Prayer, which was the last Christmas gift I gave my mother in 2009 and a Bible stories book I found in her belongings that had been given to my great grandfather (Everett Parker) in 1908 (the year my grandfather Joseph was born). He then signed it over to my grandfather in 1928.
- How do we learn the lessons from our history?
- Necessary steps to glean insight from your own “Greatest Generation”
- What will help you leave something behind?