First Lieutenant Parkes was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was seriously Wounded in Action by the enemy in South Korea on 16 September 1950 and returned to duty on 10 October 1950. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 28 November 1950 and died while a prisoner on 28 February 1951. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Parkes was awarded the Purple Heart with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Prisoner of War Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.