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WELCOME ABOARD

Welcome to the New York Commandery of the Naval Order of the United States. The New York Commandery hosts a number of educational and social events throughout the year, and builds comradery between its companions in support of the naval services. Membership in the Naval Order is by invitation only. If you have an interest, join us at one of our events.

MISSION STATEMENT

To encourage research and writing on naval and maritime subjects, preserve documents, portraits and other records of prominent figures deeds and memories of our naval and maritime history, and through fellowship of our members advance the Naval Order's unselfish service and worthy aims for the security and enduring well-being of our country. To foster, among all American citizens, informed interest in the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine, with the understanding that their efficiency is essential to national security and that readiness to make victory in war certain and speedy will deter aggression and minimize dangers to world peace.

Donald Chisholm is the Stephen B. Luce Professor of Naval Strategy at the Naval War College, where since 2000 he has been a member of the Joint Military Operations Department faculty. Earlier, he taught at several public research universities. He earned his A.B., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in political science at the University of California. His research has addressed, among other matters, naval personnel, WWII and Korean War amphibious operations, insurgency and counterinsurgency, irregular warfare, informal organization, and organizational error and reliability. He received the 2001 Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Waiting for Dead Men’s Shoes: Origins and Development of the U.S. Navy’s Officer Personnel System, 1793-1941. He deployed to Afghanistan with the II Marine Expeditionary Force to Regional Command – Southwest in Helmand Province in 2011 and 2013, and in 2014 with 18th Airborne Corps to ISAF Joint Command in Kabul, where he served as the Director of the Commander’s Initiatives Group.

An American Original

The bravest man I ever met.

– General Douglas MacArthur, referring to

Commander Charles “Chick” Parsons, USNR

Although on their best writing day, London, Stevenson, or Conrad might have conjured someone like Chick Parsons, even their most avid readers would have found such a fictional hero fantastic. But Parsons was a real-life character: an adventurer, factotum, entrepreneur, Panamanian consul in Manila, naval intelligence officer, aide to President Quezon, World War II coordinator of U.S. submarine special missions, and guerrilla. Had he been born just a few years earlier he might have taken his place in the pantheon of the Old West. Instead, he found his way from Tennessee to the post Spanish-American War Philippines. Little known today, Parsons’ portrait hangs in the ballroom of the American Embassy in Manila, a quiet remembrance of his unique, signal contributions to U.S. World War II efforts in the Philippines. We’ll spend a little while at lunch considering the life of this most remarkable American original.

Naval Order of the United States New York Commandery

WELCOME ABOARD

MISSION STATEMENT

APRIL 2026 LUNCHEON

Monday, 13 April 2026

INFORMATION

NEW YORK COMMANDERY

Steady On Course - The New York Commandery's Newsletter

New York Commandery Blessing