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Submitted: 10/3/14 • Approved: 10/3/14 • Last Updated: 10/6/14 • R1043320-G0-S3
Obituary
Cpl. Tommy L. Parker of Cleburne, Arkansas was the sort of person who would help anybody, anyone. His parents signed a release to allow him to join the Marine Reserves at 17 years old and went on active duty after graduating from high school. Known by his family and friends as T.J. he had been a resident of Heber Springs for nine years. He especially enjoyed spending time working on vehicles, playing basketball and baseball, hunting, and playing music. T.J. started dating Carla at the beginning of high school where he 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. T.J. probably decided to become a sniper because he loved hunting. He had accompanied his father on deer and rabbit hunting trips since he was 3 years old. Survivors include his wife, their 2-year-old daughter and his parents. He had a deep devotion to his faith. Even when surrounded by tough Marines he was not too shy to give witness to his beliefs. As he prepared to leave for Iraq, he remarked that the experience was bringing him closer to God. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Linda L. Parker, Bobby Gene Parker, Robert Baser and Charles Yancey. He was the 13th Arkansan to die in combat in Iraq since the March 2003 start of the war. He was killed in an ambush in Ramadi, Iraq, 60 miles west of Baghdad at age 21.
Contributed on 10/3/14 by hawkinsdonna
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Record #: 1043320