Randell Keith “Keith" Parlett was born Mar. 9, 1923 to Ralph and Anna Randell Parlett. He died June 6, 2006 and is buried in Forest Cemetery, Oskaloosa, IA.
Sgt. Major Parlett served in World War II with the U.S. Army B Troop, 125th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized and was involved in several campaigns including the D-Day invasion*, the Battle of the Bulge, and helped liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp. Then, a Tech Sergeant, armored car commander, he and two fellow crew members escaped their combat vehicle after it sank in 10 feet of water as it lumbered ashore from its landing craft.
He was released from active duty in 1945, and served 37 years in the U.S. Army Reserves.
*B Troop landed at Normandy early in the invasion because of its important mission: providing security to the headquarters of Gen. Omar Bradley’s First Army.
Sources: ancestry.com
