Sergeant Parks was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 15 July 1953. He was presumed dead on 16 July 1954. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Parks was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, 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.