For three years, Chick Parsons traveled throughout the Philippines with Wood and got to know the Filipino people, learning their language and customs, as well as picking up knowledge of Philippine geography.
10 Facts About Chick Parsons
2.
Chick Parsons moved his family to Manila in 1929, where he took a job managing the Luzon Stevedoring Company as "boss stevedore," which operated a fleet of tugboats, chrome and manganese mines, and other activities.
3.
Chick Parsons joined the US Naval Reserve as a Lieutenant, and took active duty with the Pacific Fleet whenever possible.
4.
Chick Parsons was immediately sworn into active duty as a full Lieutenant.
5.
Chick Parsons kindly refused, citing his diplomatic position and other responsibilities as the reason.
6.
Charles Chick Parsons often did this dressed as a Filipino peasant, the disguise enhanced by his deeply-tanned skin caused by years in the tropical sun.
7.
Chick Parsons was among those arrested and held for a period of time and tortured, then released because of his Panamanian diplomatic status and permitted to leave with his family in June 1942.
8.
Chick Parsons organized and maintained extensive intelligence networks and coast-watcher radio stations throughout the country, which transmitted information on Japanese troop movements to the Allied forces.
9.
In 1944, Chick Parsons returned to Leyte nine days ahead of MacArthur to help prepare the guerrillas for the invasion.
10.
Chick Parsons never requested the Purple Heart for the several times he was wounded in skirmishes with Japanese troops, once by a saber that opened up the right side of his neck.