290. Pensacola's Parazine Brothers Enter WWI 1918

One of the founding families of the Ferry Pass area of Pensacola was the Parazines! George W. Parazine was born in Pennsylvania (1849-1913) and arrived in Ferry Pass c1868. He and his wife Jemina Everitt (born New Jersey 1853-1912) were married in Pensacola in 1874 and together raised a large family. Two of their children were William Leonard Parazine (1891-1962) and his younger brother Clyde Everitt Parazine (1894-1954). When America entered WWI, William enlisted in the US Navy on June 14, 1917 and was assigned to the USS Orion two months later as a "fireman 2nd Class. The Orion was a collier whose duties were to transport coal to various ports as directed. William would come downW sick on April 4, 1918 (possibly Spanish Influenza) and was admitted to the Navy Hospital at Norfolk, VA. He recovered and was released on April 26, 1918 and reassigned to the battleship USS Iowa on 6-14-1918 as an "engineman 2nd Class. The battleship served the entire war as a receiving ship, which was a training vessel for new recruits as well as guarding the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. After the signing of the armistice on November 11th, William was sent to the USS Hartford, another receiving ship in Charleston, SC and from there was discharged from the Navy. Ironically, the Hartford was Union Admiral Farragut's flagship during the Battle of Mobile Bay in the Civil War. In 1919, William would marry Jessie Ophelia Scott (1899-1986) whose father was a section foreman on the railroad. During his lifetime, William would occupy jobs as a fireman, machinists and an engineer before his death in 1962 and subsequent burial in Bayview Cemetery. Jessie would join him there in 1986.

His younger brother Clyde chose a different route in WWI. As the war in Europe began to take its bloody toll, more and more young men were needed for the battlefields. He had previously registered for the draft in 1917 while he was working as a machine helper at NAS and living at 306 East Romana Street (now demolished). Of the 2.8 million men drafted for the war effort, a fair share came from the Pensacola area. At the weekly drawing, the number #821 was drawn and Clyde found himself inducted on 3-28-1918 and sent to the 156th Depot Brigade at Camp Jackson, SC for indoctrination. Upon completion of his basic training on April 26, 1918, he was assigned to the 30th Infantry Division, specifically to the 105th Sanitary Train, Field Hospital #118. A "sanitary train" was used to transport the sick and wounded from the frontline emergency aid stations to the rear echelon hospitals. Clyde's division sailed for France on June 4th and upon arrival, the 105th train was detached from the division. They would not rejoin the division until the 105th was joined on August 1, 1918 by Field Hospitals #118 and #119. After rejoining the division, Clyde and his companions were in constant combat at Ypres-Lys and the 2nd Somme offensive. There, it was one of only two American divisions to break the Hindenburg Line in the Battle of St. Quentin Canal. But the price was high, with the division losing 1,237 men killed in action with a further 7,178 wounded since July 1918.

One of those severely wounded was Private Clyde Everitt Parazine on September 29, 1918. The exact origin of his injuries is unknown, but given his duties it was most likely artillery in nature. He was given emergency care then transported to the rear by his own men. Private Parazine was awarded the "British Military Medal" for bravery and high calling to duty. He sailed from St. Nazaire on February 15, 1919 and was discharged with a 40% disability pension on July 1, 1919. Immediately upon his return, he married Katie Belle Gates on July 26th, the daughter of a timber inspector living in "Old Roberts" in Ferry Pass. Sadly, four months later Katie came down with appendicitis and died following an operation on November 22, 1919. She was buried in Whitmire Cemetery with her family. Clyde would not marry again until 12-12-1941 when he and Ethel Harvey Jones Bennett (1912-2006) were married. Clyde would spend the rest of his life as a machinist until he passed away on November 26, 1954. He was buried in Bayview Cemetery where he rest today near his brother William and others of his family.