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Foil Family Oral History, Part 2/3

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IntervieweeDavid A. Foil, Jr.InterviewerJoyce McBrideSubjectOral HistoriesApache CountyNavajo CountyBiographyMcNary, James Graham, b. 1877McNary, (Ariz.)--HistoryTimber--Ariz.Apache Sitgreaves National Forest (Ariz.) McNary, James Graham, b. 1877McNary, (Ariz.)--HistoryTimber--Ariz.DescriptionPart 2: David A. Foil, Jr. was inducted into the U.S. Army in Fresno, California because California was where he'd enlisted. He was promptly sent to the salt flats outside Salt Lake City, Utah for basic training. From there he was sent to Lowery Airfield at Denver, Colorado for armament school, learning to handle and process bombs and machine guns, etc. From there, he went to gunnery school outside Las Vegas, Nevada, flying B-17s to become proficient at shooting targets from the air. He then went to Barksdale Air Field in Shreveport, Louisiana, was classified as a flight engineer and assigned to a Martin B-26. He and the crew went on to Europe in '44 and flew over the English Channel. After four missions, D-Day occurred, and they moved to France where they bombed Germany throughout the rest of the summer and winter. By next spring, the war in Europe was over and David had flown 43 missions. He describes his war experiences. After the war was over, David was moved to a processing field at Antwerp, Holland and then was transported back to Maryland on a Liberty ship, and then back to California via Canada, Detroit, El Paso, and Tucson by rail. Once he was discharged at Fort McArthur in Los Angeles, he boarded the train back to La Posada at Winslow, Arizona. By this time David's parents had relocated to Winslow, so this was his home now. David met his bride to be, Maxine, at Winslow's Baptist church and they were married a year later. In 1949, David was offered his old job at McNary, so they returned. But a year later, he lost that job, and the young family, now with 2 babies, was evicted from their Company-owned home. They left McNary destitute, with only a car and a few pieces of furniture, and made it as far as Show Low. They rented a motel cabin behind what was then the Painted Pony, and David started looking for work. There was an estimated 16 million men coming home from the war looking for work, so times were tough. Without finding a job, David set up a small power saw shop, repairing and marketing gasoline powered chainsaws to the loggers. He bought a lot from Arlie Maxwell and built himself a 3 bedroom house out of #5 (low-grade) 2 x 6 lumber stacked flat on top of each other like logs in a cabin, and then hand dug the trenches to reach water and sewer. In 1956, David left the chainsaws to start an insurance and real estate business. He started developing the subdivision on Owens, near the present Safeway and Little League ballpark, and moved his family into a larger and nicer home. Then he bought 30 acres across the Deuce of Clubs and built the subdivision they live in now. In 1953, David was selected by the Navajo County Board of Supervisors as one of the five men to form a committee to incorporate Show Low. He recalls and describes this important time of Show Low's development and the reasons for the need to incorporate. When McNary closed, the loss of the timber industry spelled disaster to the economy of the entire White Mountains. Since then, tourism is our primary source of outside income.Audio Length00:40:36Date Original2008-01-11Date Range1940s (1940-1949)1950s (1950-1959)1960s (1960-1969)1970s (1970-1979)TypeSound- NonmusicalOriginal FormatOral historiesLanguageEnglishContributing InstitutionShow Low Historical Society MuseumCollectionOral Histories of the White MountainsRights StatementThe opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee only. They do not represent the views of the Show Low Historical Society Museum. Please contact the Show Low Historical Society Museum with questions about the use and reproduction of this resource.

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City or TownMcNaryShow LowWinslowCountyNavajo CountyStateArizonaCountryUnited States

Oral HistoryFoil Family PlaceMcNaryShow LowWinslowTopicBusiness and IndustryCommunitiesEducationLaborLand UseNative Americans

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IdentifierFoil Family History, Part 2.mp3Date Digitized2008-01-11Digital FormatMP3File Size39 MB

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Foil Family Oral History, Part 2/3