Floyd Lavinius Parks

Lieutenant General Floyd Lavinius Parks (9 February 1896 – 10 March 1959) was a United States Army officer who served with distinction during World War II. During the war, he was chief of staff of the US Army Ground Forces and the First Allied Airborne Army. As such, he participated in Operation Market Garden that directed air drops into the Netherlands behind the German lines which were preventing Allied forces from crossing the Rhine river. He commanded the US First Airborne Army in 1945 on his promotion to major general. After the war, Parks commanded the US Sector in Berlin before going to Washington, D.C., to become the chief of the Public Information Division for the Army. Later, he commanded American forces in the United States Army Pacific in 1949. After service in Hawaii, he became chief of the Information Department, whereafter he was known as the "father of modern Army public affairs." He received a promotion to lieutenant general in 1953 and thereafter served as commanding general of the Second Army until his retirement in 1956.