Businessman Brings Opportunity to Gulf Coast Published April 25, 2006 By Staff Sgt. J. Justin Pearce 403rd Wing Keesler AFB, Miss. -- Alex Parker, a WWII veteran and multimillionaire New Yorker, was busy negotiating the final details of contributing his second WWII memorial to Arlington National Cemetery when Hurricane Katrina swept through and devastated the Gulf Coast. Mr. Parker’s focus immediately shifted from building memorials to finding ways to create job opportunities for the Gulf Coast. He shared possibilities of building clinics, clothing mills, a NASCAR track, and ideas like home and health insurance or services that give insurance advice to troops for free.” While meeting with civic leaders in Mississippi, Mr. Parker was invited to spend a few days with the 403rd Wing at Keesler and visit with the troops he was trying so hard to help. “I’ve reached a point in my life where I’ve done everything - now I want to help my soldiers,” he said. During his visit, he toured various squadrons and several of Keesler’s newest training simulators. He also hopped aboard a C-130J aircraft for a low-level flight along the Gulf Coast, catching a glimpse of the devastation caused by Katrina. He sees himself as an ordinary man who has been given an opportunity to make changes in the world. “I have something that many people don’t have . . . I make money, and I have a choice, and I want to help the soldiers,” he said. Although his investors told him he was crazy about taking a business expedition to Mississippi, he’d made up his mind. “I represent hope and opportunity, and it’s a wonderful feeling to be able to do that.” Behind the Man While most of today’s Air Force troops were still in diapers or weren’t even born yet, Mr. Parker was capitalizing on business ventures. After surviving 233 combat missions in WWII, the gung-ho New Yorker ended his military service and used his entrepreneurial skills to become a key player in the rejuvenation of Times Square in New York. He once owned the skyscraper at One Times Square, famous for the New Year’s Eve ball drop. He used the building as a vehicle to drive the city block out of the slums by inviting famous people to stay there for free, which exploded into a media frenzy and over the years provided fuel for the enormous growth and fame of Times Square. Before Katrina, Mr. Parker had just finished donating his first WWII memorial; an angel sculpture entitled “Price of Freedom,” to Arlington. It stands next to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He had personally recruited a world renowned sculptor from St. Divine Church to create his angel statue. John Metzler, superintendent of Arlington, in expressing appreciation to Mr. Parker said that it was his spirit that became the heart and soul of this magnificent work of art, and thanked him for helping remind the nation of the contributions to the world made by World War II veterans and their families. After hearing that 5,000 people would view the statue each day Mr. Parker wasn’t entirely pleased. “Now you have to understand me and Times Square,” he said. “Five thousand people – are what I eat for breakfast.” So, he wanted to build more statues – specifically, 233, one for each combat mission he flew. The “Flying Machine” While visiting Keesler, Mr. Parker toured the Air Traffic Control School, including two new training simulators, as well as the C-130J flight simulator. At the last stop of the tour, the flight simulator, Mr. Parker got his chance to fulfill a personal dream. Before Katrina, he had pleaded to fly another combat mission with troops overseas. He knew they would come home safely because he had angels on his side. “I always came back with everyone,” he said. “We may have come back with one wing, but we always came back.” He wrote the President and Secretary of State, pleading to fly a combat mission with Airmen in Iraq. After dodging bullets and missiles for 233 missions, he was sure he would keep them safe. “I said I wanted to fly so we’d all return safe, and I’d take Charlotte with me, in a helmet and a pair of shoes,” he said. “So they think I’m crazy.” His request for flying another combat mission was rejected, but from that rejection also came the opportunity to come visit the 403rd Wing, which would eventually land him inside this flight simulator where he could finally fulfill this dream of landing safely. Inside the simulator, Mr. Parker gripped the stick and eased the C-130J aircraft down to the runway for a successful landing. After landing safely, Mr. Parker got up and said, “I can’t wait to tell the boys back home.”