The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Commander Alton Enoch Parker (NSN: 0-71514), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the Destroyer U.S.S. MANNERT L. ABELE (DD-733), in action against enemy Japanese forces off Okinawa, on 12 April 1945. Maintaining his ship and her company at the peak of combat readiness as she relentlessly patrolled the hazardous waters off the coast of enemy-held Okinawa, Commander Parker aggressively met the repeated savage challenge of attacking Japanese aircraft, on one occasion blasting two of the enemy from the sky with no damage to his own vessel. Assigned to Radar Picket duty 70 miles northwest of an important Japanese transport area on 12 April the MANNERT L. ABELE was suddenly surrounded and attacked by approximately twenty hostile planes. Fighting his ship gallantly, Commander Parker promptly opened fire on the Japanese planes as they came within range, shooting down two of the aggressors before a third enemy plane crashed the after engineroom from starboard and exploded. Seconds after the crash, a piloted jet-propelled suicide bomb hit the waterline at a speed of 400 knots in the vicinity of No. 1 fireroom, exploding heavily and breaking the gallant ship in two at the after engineroom. By his daring and courageous leadership, Commander Parker inspired his gallant officers and men to heroic effort in defense of their ship despite tremendous odds and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.