For such a small settlement as Bagdad, Florida, this lumber town contributed more than their fair share to the war effort in WWII. Already the "Bagdad Boys" of Rodney Cropper, James Edwin Foxworth, Donald Lee Simpson, and Raymond Simmons Hobbs had made the supreme sacrifice for their country. Even by 1944, the sacrifice was far from over and the Bagdad Boys were asked for more. PFC Jesse Lee Parker was born in Bagdad on May 22, 1921, the son of Chaudoin "Bennie" Moseley Parker and Ada Amelia Montague. His father supported the family as a painter, but by 1940 his mother was supporting the kids out of their home at 242 West King Street in Milton. That same year Jesse was working as a blacksmith's helper for the CCC.
When WWII erupted Jesse was inducted into the US Army on November 23, 1942 and was assigned to the 167th Infantry Regiment of the 31st "Dixie" Infantry Division. Jesse's first encounter with combat was in July 1944 on the embattled island of New Guinea where casualties were high. By September 1944, the Division invaded the Japanese held island of Morotai and the smaller islands that surrounded it. The 167th Regiment was given the task of seizing Mapia Island and the job went to the regiment's 2nd Battalion. These outlying islands were north of New Guinea and used by the Japanese as outposts to observe Allied movements.
On November 15th over 1,200 soldiers landed at Pegun Island in the Mapia islands and the next day on Bras Island. PFC Jesse Lee Parker from Bagdad, Florida was mortally wounded in the fighting that followed on the 16th of November. He was rushed to a field hospital, but died of his wounds on December 17, 1944. Sadly, the islands were overrun and secured the day after he was wounded. Buried in a temporary cemetery, his body was brought home in 1948 and buried in the Bagdad Cemetery. He was survived by his parents and his three sisters; Mrs. Clarice Olivia Jernigan, Mrs. Bessie Lucille Billbray, and Mrs. Joyce Raughtan.
