William H. Parsons, 85, of Mather Road in West Brattleboro, VT, died Friday morning, Nov. 25, 2005, at Vernon Green Nursing Home, after a brief illness. He had been a resident of Brattleboro since last February.

Mr. Parsons was born in Elmira, NY, on Nov. 22, 1920, the son of Harold and Myrtle (Coats) Parsons. He was raised and educated in Binghamton, NY, graduating from Binghamton North High School, class of 1939.

He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the United States Army, with the Air Corps 546th Bomb Squadron, 394th (should be 384th) Bomb Group in the European Theater of Operation. He was a pilot of a B-17 and was shot down by enemy fire over Germany during his first combat mission. He was taken captive by the Germans and was a prisoner of war for 18 months. On Oct. 27, 1945, he was honorably discharged at the rank of second lieutenant and was the recipient of the European-African-Middle Eastern Ribbon with one Campaign Star. He later served with the United States Air Force Reserve and was discharged at the rank of First Lieutenant on July 31, 1957.

Mr. Parsons was employed with New York State Electric & Gas, working in the Cooperstown office and retired as manager after 46 years of dedicated service to the company.

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William H Parsons