David Leroy Parish

David Leroy Parish was raised in Ottumwa in Wapello County. Parish joined the Army in 1965 and trained to be a light-wheel vehicle mechanic. SP4 Parish’s first assignment was a year tour in Germany and his second in Vietnam. He arrived in Southeast Asia on October 7, 1966 and served with the 557th Engineering Company stationed near the Cambodian border west of Saigon. On March 15, 1967 SP4 Parish was driving an Army truck when it hit a mine in the vicinity of the South Vietnamese city of Tay Ninh. He was killed during the blast. The Army was unable to identify his remains until March 22 therefore he was initially listed as missing in action and later changed to killed in action. His 19-year-old body was returned to Iowa and buried at the Shaul Cemetery in Ottumwa.