Mule: When bravery was abundant
James Earl Parker Jr., code name Mule was born October 25th, 1942 in Rockingham, North Carolina. He passed on October 9th, 2018. He was a friend and one of my favorite storytellers. A fellow member of China Post 1, he was the official historian of history in general. We often discussed someone from the past that had an impact on the world as we know it, perhaps the heroics of some who fought and died honorably for what they believed in, and several people we both knew or worked near over the years. Not only did he contribute to the field of intelligence, but he was also a teacher of history and had that rare ability to help one measure the impact that one small operation or person had on much larger conflicts. Our local groups, both formal and informal will miss Mule.
The following is from his blog which is has been a refuge for me to retreat to over the years, “Muleorations” http://www.muleorations.com/about-the-author.html. Jim wrote of his experiences in Vietnam, Laos and other areas of the world he experienced from his travels, people he worked with or knew, and his service in the U.S. Army and CIA.
“When Jim was 15 years old he ran away from home, ending up in Havana, Cuba. His parents were not amused and not long after he returned he was enrolled in the Oak Ridge Military Academy for an attitude adjustment.
There he learned discipline but he was still driven by a-rambling', rambunctious curiosity; summers he worked as a Myrtle Beach lifeguard. He went on to UNC/Chapel Hill, played lacrosse, flunked out, went with a couple of buddies down to Managua, Nicaragua but was chased out by what would become the Sandinistas. He flew to Florida, worked at a Miami hotel, returned to college for one more semester before dropping out to join the US Army.
THE VIETNAM WAR ITS OWNSELF 2nd edition chronicles his Vietnam War experiences; Parker was among the first in as a 22-year-old Second Lieutenant Platoon Leader in 1965 and he was the last to leave in 1975. In between, he married, graduated UNC and joined the Central Intelligence Agency. His first CIA assignment was upcountry Laos where he led Hmong hills tribe guerrillas against two divisions of North Vietnamese mainline soldiers. His detailed account of this top secret activity was published in hardback by the Naval Institute Press, titled CODENAME MULE - reprinted in paperback by St Martin's Press as COVERT OPS. His LAST MAN OUT also reports on his Vietnam experiences.
After para-military chores in Laos/Vietnam, Parker went on to serve undercover as a case handler in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, retiring in 1992.
He's been places and done things.
In the military, he received the Bronze Star with "V" and the Purple Heart. In the CIA, he received two Certificates of Outstanding Service, a Certificate of Distinction and the Intelligence Medal.
