Genuine Concern for People, Mattie Parker
This article describes alumni Mattie Parker. This and other articles may be found in the University Archives.
Citation for this article is: "Genuine Concern for People Marks Graduate's Successes," ECU Report, Volume 14, No. 3, May 1982.
Wherever you find Mattie Parker, you are bound to find plenty of activity.This has been the hallmark for the ECU graduate who became the first woman to command an AFEES (Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station) in the history of the Armey. Through her rise in the military, Col. Parker has maintained a friendly, down-to-earth personality which is no small part in relation to her success.
The best place to start to follow the success of this outstanding woman is to go back to her early life in Mt. Olive. She says, "We were poor, as many people were because it was the depression, but that didn't bother me, as I was growing up in a very loving atmosphere. In high school I was on the basketball team and was a cheerleader and gave my all to everything. I never thought I'd go to college, because I knew my family couldn't afford that. "She worked at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro following graduation and there met a woman named Mary Hale who talked about East Carolina and that set the wheels in motion. "My sister was an Army nurse at the time and she offerred to help me with expenses. "All her brothers and sisters contributed to Mattie's college education when they were able and took great pride in her being the first family member to graduate from college.
When Mattie came to Greenville, there were about 600 women and 40 men on campus and two years later the enrollment was nearly 1500, with nearly equal numbers of men and women. Mattie lived in Wilson Hall and worked in the cafeteria while majoring in physical education. She had numerous odd jobs like selling sandwiches and collecting dry cleaning before she became an assistant in the p.e. department. Nell Stallings, who was chairman of women's athletics then . . . relates, "Mattie was very energetic and did whatever had to be done. Many were the times she coaxed the handcranked mimeograph machine into use. She was extremely conscientious and thoroughly dependable."
These were the days the p.e. department shared the Wright Auditorium with the music department and operated on a shoestring.Mattie remembers gluing feathers back on the arrows to keep them going awhile longer. She also fondly remembers the days her mother would call and tell her to go to the bus station and pick up a home-cooked dinner she had sent over. "I'm glad I had to work through college, because it made the whole thing more meaningful," said Mattie.
When graduation day came in 1949, Dr. Messick shook Mattie's hand and said, "Mattie, do you have a job?" "No sir," was the reply, for jobs were hard to come by then. Finally she had her first teaching position at a state correction center for delinquent girls in Eagle Springs, NC. This 12 month a year job included teaching math and p.e. as well as being hte recreation director who planned the birthday parties and movies and being responsible for the planting and harvesting of a large garden.
In 1951 she took a job in Madison, Florida at a school which had had five p.e. teachers in five years. There was virtually no equipment except for a few basketballs, but she immediately started breathing enthusiasm into her cheerleading squads and basketball teams and organized a pep club. She remained at thsi school for seven years building a progressive program for junior and senior high students, and then began looking for a new challenge. When a student came to her one day to get her opinion on a military career, it put her mind in that direction. She had always admired her sister who was in the Army and began investigating this possibility.
Another North Carolinian, Inez Bailey of Kinston, the recruiting officer for the southeastern region, was involved in Mattie's processing and in the fall of 1958 Mattie began basic training in Alabama as a first lieutenant because of her age and experience.Brigadier General Bailey, U.S. Army ret., who has known Mattie professionally and as a friend throughout her military career, said "She keeps interested in anything she has been involved with and does a fine job keeping in touch with friends."
Following basic training, Mattie's first position was a platoon leader before going to Raleigh to work in recruiting.She visited schools and civic organizations from Greensboro eastward adn let it be known she would meet groups any time of day or evening. It was during these recruiting years that she brought a joint services panel to the campus. "It was a good feeling to come back to school and identify myself as 'one of you' who was out there doing a job." She said recruiting was very rewarding and many times she used her connection with ECU to get her foot in the door. "If someone one the staff was an ECU grad, I'd ask to talk to them or maybe their class.They could relate better to that, than my being a woman in uniform. "The Raleigh area averaged 100 per cent of their quota the two-year period Mattie was the recruiting officer.
She then went to Alabama as a WAC recruiting officer for the 3rd Army covering 80 colleges and universities and became captain. Her next post was at Ft. Meade, Md. as executive officer of a 300-woman company. Six months later she became assistant secretary to the general staff ofthe commanding general of the 2nd Army for protocol. At first she wasn't interested in this job because there was not much to do.But once in the assignment, Mattie made the job very active. She frequently handled all the details for large sit-down dinners and self-challenged herself to costing out social affairs down to the penny.She made major there and went to a WAC officer career course before moving to Ft. Monroe, Va. Of all her assignments, this is the one Mattie was not entirely thrilled with as it involved working with papers rather than people.After a short time she worked with the ROTC director and then went to defense information school in Indiana.
Her first foreign assignment came in 1970 when she went to Garmisch, Germany as chief of recreation services for the headquarters of the Armed Forces Recreation Center which served military and civilian government personnel and their families. Commander of the post, Col. John W. Myers, USA ret., says "Mattie's planning an dsupervision and innovative ideas made it a well-used facility. She was the first senior WAC officer to hold this post and she had a fine working relationship with everyone." At one time she supervised 100 Germans and 125 military personnel in the ski patrol. She traveled 75 miles to Munich frequently to attend reserve school of the command and general staff college while at the Garmish post.
During these years Mattie earned a reputation for getting work done efficiently and at the same time had good rapport with her command.At one time she was sent to the hotel, "The General Walker," as a trouble shooter and although she was to gather information and appraise and report hte situation, she ended up managing the hotel for four months. "I just put emphasis where emphasis should have been an dtook an interest in the well-being of the employees.I had Turks, Yugoslavs and Germans working in that hotel, but we did fine," says Mattie.
She returned to the states as the WAC coordinator for midwestern recruiting command at Ft. Sheridan, Illinois traveling a 12-state area visiting command centers.In 1975 she was named to the command post at the AFEES slot in Detroit. This is the second largest of the 60 AFEES in the U.S. She says, "I was warmly touched when I received congratulations from Chancellor Jenkins and Alumni Director Leggett acknowledging my command."
Here she earned the nickname of the kissing colonel, for at the conclusion of the many promotion ceremonies she presided over, she would add a kiss on the cheek ot the congratulations. This was most appropriate, as this warm, friendly woman who grew up in a small North Carolina community and rose to an impressive post in the military always made those in her presence feel very special.
A Washington, D.C. assignment followed where Mattie was a review officer with a panel which reviewed nearly 60,000 medical discharges per eyar.She got an extension to her retirement date which put her in the Pentagon.Here she was a member of the board which reviewed Army discharges other than honorable. "It was important to be sensitive to all in these cases, and I always weighed the individual's needs, not just the Army's," she said.
But retirement did come in April of 1980 with a ceremony which included Pershing's own Army Band and the Ft. Myer Ole' Guard and as ranking officer, Mattie reviewed the troops. "The best part of that day was having many of my family there, because so many of them supported me through it all."
