This is an oral history interview with General Raymond J. 

Davis, class of 1938, conducted by Maryland's summers on August 15th of 1995 at General Davis is home and Rockdale County, Georgia. 

The focus in subject of this interview is his student life at Georgia Tech, General Davis, Thank you very much for having us here this morning. We're delighted to be here. I'd like you to tell me your story, sir, if you will. From the beginning. From the beginning I was born in Fitzgerald, Georgia. 

If both sides of my family coming from reasonably from Indiana, Fitzgerald stories long and I won't repeat it, but it is a Yankee town down south than an early age. I came to Atlanta. 

My family went through the this flu epidemic and the twenties for all all of us were in bed for awhile. Then, through the second grade through Georgia Tech hours in Atlanta. Throughout my high school days, I was in ROTC, the Army ROTC at Tech High School. 

I think the fact that I wanted to take high school a shield my interest in technical things and it led me towards Georgia Tech. I skipped a year after high school because I had no money, set up a business out on a street. 

So hamburger for awhile and went broke and job with Lee Baking Company making Parker House rose all the way through check that was my living. 

Parker House Rose Lee Baking Company hour or more an avenue where I would roles the roles while studying my calculus cards on the side. Get home at three o'clock in the morning, eight o'clock classes. 

So my weight went down to about a 110, I think, during that time. 

But I arrived at Georgia Tech, totally committed to the ROTC, which I really liked and has excelled in. 

And I was going to be a mechanical engineer because in my early years, I was familiar with some people. At 11 was a railroad engineer, had nothing to do mechanical engineering for cycling. I went my first two years I was in general subjects. 

But during my second year, I became more acquainted with chemical engineering and shifted to chemical engineering. 

We lived at various places, Morningside, book bindings, George Eliot and inviting one or five houses there. 

And now I can't find my way around and findings road, the street cars Gou where community the entire time? 

Yes. Yes. 

And my senior year, I finally got together enough funds to buy a little quip it, Roadster automobile for twenty-five dollar bill of sale on the back of a cracker box. That's the way things were done in those days. And I could drive to school and drive to work. My favorite professor, I guess I've always DM Smithfield, calculus fella. He was a challenging, demanding. Perfection was his goal and it was interesting that met for the first time. A close friend to become manual M. Cortes from Mexico. 

Cortes had gone through Mexico, new Mexico Institute in high-school, had come to Georgia Tech, was his father was for the Mexican railroad. Modest means. He didn't have enough money to go home holiday, so he would stay with us. 

But he was brilliant. He is his notes from the M Smith's capitalist class. He went home and convert it into a textbook for the University of Mexico. 

Became a mining engineer and then he built roads and bridges, and then he built buildings and became a truly remarkable multimedia. As time went on him, he established the cattle ranches up and he ran 15 thousand head of cows. He established a silver extrusion plant where he made parts for the space program. 

One time he was visiting here with a bill from Westinghouse for $140 million width apart from his recently as last five years is built the largest bearing factory in the world to furnish bearing for all our major bearing manufacturers. And Margaret with fella. He became your friend while you were both two? 

Yes. He he live in the dormitory along with another triangle. It would patent who built to refineries for. Then exon around the world. 

And finally, he was in charge of the Alaska pipeline and the consortium that built a pipeline was it bends, baby, they named a big bridge after him up there. We kept we were very close. Those two room together. 

And I was kind of frequent room roommate because I lived in town and I needed to hang out while I was at the three hours for the last two years. Very close. Disciples of Dan Smith. Oh, yes. Yes. That baton was a chemical engineer, so we shared classes. Cortes was obviously a civil engineer because that was his. Here's an interesting one other feature of Cortes. 

He stayed an extra year and he became a tutor for the football players are helping 11 player whose grades went up and the coach, I guess it was Alexander at the time said noticed that your grades are going to say I got a tutor now. 

So we've got they got caught as the to the whole football team and subsequent years would go to a reunion. And a football player all centered around Cortez. I couldn't figure it out and easily tell. Realize he had been there tutor during the days at school. 

Can you describe DM Smith to us? 

What was he like? 

Physically? 

Difficult as I recall, he was a modest height, pretty hefty fellow with a steely I looked at us and told us we were wrong many times and he had some amazing things that he would tell us that in the middle of an exam, you know, they had a whistle back in those days to mark the end of class or whistle would go down the steam plant. He said, this, this boy, girl, girl, boy, this boy was going great. And all of a sudden he stopped and wrote down the word whistle. 

So you don't get any credit for Westworld difficulty M. Smith, approach to that class. Did you feel that he was carrying about you even though he was a real disciplinarian. I think that's part of caring is the fact that we wanted us to be good calculus students. And he was demanding and insistent and helpful or their return but demanding. And I think that's part of part of a good teacher. I remember Professor Dr. 

Bunker, who was my chemical engineering professor, whose, whose eyesight was so bad that he read everything within an inch of his face. 

But again, a brilliant, brilliant fellow and lead us doubt seriously down the road of being, being hands-on chemical engineers and my travels around the world. 

Since the tech as S1 thing that I hear about Georgia Tech graduates, is it there? 

They are truly hands-on engineers as opposed to some of the theory at their theoretical guys. They have to cope with. After. 

Well, I'll, I'll talk about my love life at EdTech. I didn't seem to be able to settle on anyone. One damsel ever every spring dance I had a different one. These girls come from well, it just around town. One was at my job at the Lee Baking Company. One was a friend of a friend. 

So even though it was an all male school, wasn't a handicap, he's still and two from Agnes Scott. That was that was our date Bureau, so to speak was Agnes guy. 

But at first I had no money and until I got my little car, I had no transportation. 

So I really wasn't the sandwich, the giant won or the Canvas by any means. The athletics. 

In high school, I had been a wrestler, cross country runner, but at checkout really had no time for any much athletics. I did do a little wrestling and he did a wrestling team at that time. What really wasn't a formal team. We just had a, had a group that did a little goes as a sport where you can work in your own weight. 

So that's probably why I could do that. Could you wear a little guy then waste away at them anyway? 

Yes. 

I had difficulty getting in the Marine Corps because I caught a bus to go to Charleston for my physical exam after I'd been applied. And I have seen ahead of time shorter wait. 

And I went to my family doctor who put me on bananas and beer to the consternation of my family wishes tea totaling against anything alcoholic. That put on a few pounds. I caught the bus, got off and Augusta and had a sandwich. The local bus station. Before I got to Charleston, I was ill and I lost lost more weight before my exam. I drink loads of war as examining doctor to weigh me first. He wouldn't lose some before before he would wake me, but I got to waver and got in. 

But wait, was a serious problem. Tell us about your ROTC experience. Rotc was really something that I somehow went for. I was on the special drill team in high school. You get to school our early in the mornings to do our thing. Was in infantry ROTC at Pitt fine instructor. I'm currently at Lilly. Was the chief instructor there. I made a pluses throughout my career, so naturally I liked it and went for it. I became a company commander and my company one drill competition. 

And so it was it was really something that I appreciate that probably led me into my Marine Corps career because I guess before graduation, I had been awarded a teaching fellowship at the University of Tennessee and elemental phosphorus and the money fell out this before graduation. 

Current really suggests is that since they went Oh, jobs that I try the army, primary active duty for awhile. They had Thompson Act, which would give you five years. 

But then he said, there's a better deal now, the Navy ROTC there offering one Marine Corps regular commission. Why don't you go down there? 

Well, move my army ROTC background. I was better qualified to compete for that. 

Then the Navy ROTC, which was primarily ships and guns and I want the one Marine Corp Commission that year and went often to be a marine. Southern Marines were inducted through the navy program. We call them navy out from other services that Navy department has maybe an Marines. The Navy ROTC was for primarily for Navy, but they also had a moraine instructor down there. That period of time, did you ever come across George Griffin? 

Yes, I saw him then. 

I saw him many times later he did one of my favorite people and he got me to sign a photograph and twitchy hung over his office and really enjoyed him. He coached track at Georgia Tech in the early days. Did you ever encounter him as a runner? 

No. Only only indirectly. It ran track. I met Coach through through that connection but I didn't. I have very little time to do much in the way of athletic endeavors. 

To analyze time it takes the, I guess, I guess one final effort in chemical engineering, I had another Davis, Jay Jay Davis because we were in class. And Nicole, the row we'll always call Davis Jay Jay and Davis RG. 

But we shared laboratory times and so forth. He went off with the Navy in World War Two and was captured and was a prisoner at Wake Island. I've kept kept tabs on J. J. Davis, also from from those days. We had another close friend and chemistry classes. Dane lost his name, but he went up to the nuclear plant on assume have some Ana River Project. And very strangely, without gardening and his yard and was killed by lightning. Somebody hasn't. 

Parker dean knows his name, but he was a brilliant student and one we kinda leaned on when they go on was to there, What's the goal and tough? 

Oh, absolutely. 

I really struggled to stay on the dean's list and I get provoked a little bit when I think about my daughter who went there some years later, she stayed on the dean's list full-time while majoring in fraternity house. She wasn't working making Parker House roles either. Always use. He's got a mind like a trip. Totally brilliant, managed to stay in all the honor societies. Yes. 

Well, I worked hard and I was determined that my time would be well-spent. 11 early experience it I fail. I mentioned was the bookstore. 

In my in my deprived financial situation, I applied for and got a job selling books in the bookstore for a while. And the one we call the robbery. Robbery. 

And that that was WE fine because I met a lot of fellow students there who are working in a bookstore. And everybody on campus came to the bookstore at one time or another. 

So that was a good experience and gave me a few dollars. I got a little bit of scholarship help from a lawyer down First National Bank building. 

I've forgotten his name, but it was a struggle and I think I used to tell my young Marines, adversity builds character. And I had never adversity or I'm a character definitely qualified. Where did you eat when you were on campus, if you were commuters, you didn't go home for lunch. 

So what would you do? 

In the mess hall. 

Sometimes I took my lunch from home in the mess hall or just snacks and the robbery and just I had no snow precise fixed meal arrangements. 

I didn't buy a meal tickets from Britain hall that you just made DO as the Bayesian live from day to day. Ever go to the varsity? 

Oh yes. And went there last month. He was the favorite place in the trachea. Your date to the varsity and you'd get a nickel hamburger, Nicole, hot dog, nickel Coke. Entertain her oily, sitting there in that box, the yard with the waiters come back-and-forth. Did you ever meet Frank Gordon? 

No. 

You never knew him? 

No, I didn't know it was competing with you when you started your business that felt wasn't me. I didn't have a varsity had begun by the time you were hedge a little place, I'm lucky street humans. 

It was oh, it was only going as you set yourself up to be in competition with well, I hope to make it a Blucher So and save up to get into school. 

It was after the Depression, it was the post depression time and there were a lot of people struggling for school. 

Well, I recall recall my graduating class the highest paying job or something like a $145 a month, but General Electric or somebody a Marine Corps was about second-highest. 

So I was in the high cotton when I got to commission and the core back in those days because they didn't No, no no serious job was offered. What was offered was very meager salaries that people made it through. 

Well, the prices were right. In my youth. 

I remember my mom, we move from Morningside out to West End and my mother had friends and she was sent me with a basket of flowers up to her friends on Saturday and you take a nickel streetcar ride. And so twenty-five cents worth of flowers, go back through town, stop at a movie and have a $0.05 move, $0.05 Coke for I've seen Hot dog and you had a big day for a quarter. 

I believe that anyone would, even by your flowers is unbelievable now, oh, yes they will for an echo or a band, I guess. 

So there were ways to be creative at it. It was a struggle. In those days. We will walk to school. I went to cascade springs grammar school. There's a two mile walk. The happiest day. 

But when that teach you that little Turing Ford Automobile, her car would break down and we push it up the hills and how we can drive down the hills on a running board with the teacher. And she's always kind to us on that day. 

So it was a rough, rural, rustic life. 

Brought up in the tech time since I have, as I mentioned, who went there and her classmate who's now way incur a dentist and kinase went there. We have a daughter-in-law on a son and to grandchildren at the University of Georgia. 

So we have an interesting time at the football games are divided. 

But tech, tech is when a great deal to us we still see. We'll go back there. I went over a union and it will go group. 

But Tech has continued. 

I didn't mention after they had been died some years ago, Cortes and I got busy and set up a scholarship in his name. 

Scholarship than the raise enough money to keep that going so that some students somewhere doesn't have to make rolls. Parker, how's row? 

I say grand gesture. Let's go back to when you were on the campus. 

Had you ever attended any sporting events before you became student or was when you came to campus the first time he ever went to any other sporting events? 

No. I had been done about twice. 

I had my father had taken me to a football game and I had been out to watch the after the after the Rose Bowl. I went out to Rose Bowl field just to see that. 

But my my visits to take were very, very minimum. And once you were a freshman, then you wear a rat camp in those days? 

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. 

And the dorm next to the administrator knows mostly the freshman dorm and that's where I hung out with my new friends. 

Do you remember going to the early games? 

We sat, sat there in the bright sun with that red caps on how it's typed doing on the field in those days, do we have a good team? 

I remember. In turn, remember some of our classmates, Sherrington stuff at Thomson was about that time. I knew them all but I forgot a good show. 

You went to where we had the Rozell dazzled days, which was where they, they really toss the ball around and the backfill and color as old as well. And that's a method of claim? 

Yes. 

Because it was an offense rather than allow fence Hiroko through the years, off and on, but checkout always to me **** is he continues to do so. 

If you ever observe any other athletic activities besides football? 

Well, we went to the track meets and the baseball and basketball always say You did. Yes. Oh yes. We know, not, not all that frequently, but it made a point to go to the key key games. I went to all football game. 

So attending athletic events was part of the social activity of the campus store? 

Absolutely. Yeah. 

You almost marched in step two, the football game because it was a way we expect it to go and we did and we did it go. 

Did you ever participate in any of the after game parades that they have? 

On occasion though we had the the rallies beforehand. 

Remember, there were times when we would have a rally before the game the night night before the game over bonfire rally? 

I don't remember hearing about that. 

Well, it was like a pep rally. Faintly in my memory. I remember three or four loads that I attended. Unless I did in my dreams. Somewhere. 

In your records it says something about you working on a technique to remember ever working in the student paper? 

Yes, I did. 

The data lake man, I went over and helped helped out with the assembly of distribution and I think I helped help with an article or two, but my motion, just like man. How about the skateboard and the blade? 

Do you remember that grow well that yes. 

Well, I was again, that was my ROTC interest and the scattering blade was was kinda the fraternity for ROTC. 

I was, I had a great interest in that and of course, because it is social, not much now, just primarily on rare. Rarely had a couple of meetings as I recall, but primarily is to honorary event. Do you remember any campus traditions or was the Rambling Wreck popular at that time? 

Oh, yeah. Anything that was the culture of Georgia Tech. Codas, the Rambling Wreck, go tick. And then through the, through the ages, I guess the thing is different. The whistle, whistle was it went at the start and end of every class. Steam steam plant. 

Do they still do that? 

Do they? 

Well, that was certainly the early tradition and listening for the whistle. 

And of course, as you walked through all the class as a class are all close by it at all there and at one central area and those times, every class. Do you remember any of the professors having nicknames? 

No. I can't I can't remember a nickname. Remember the name, especially Daniel. 

Did you ever have any interaction with Dean field? 

Dean of man, just just my brief from time to time about scholarships and these kind of thing. You would have to consult with someone when you were looking for these kinds of views? 

Yes. 

You always have had interviews, fill out questionnaires about your financial needs and got on the list. And sometimes they came through, but not very often. You had this. I had to scramble and not a competition holding down. There's a night job. 

And why did you ever have an opportunity to meet President Britain? 

Just again, I met him one time when I was in for an interview. Then the presidential party or so that we were invited to just receiving line kind of meetings. 

But I never I never spent time with him. Do you remember your graduation? 

They're much Fox Theater. 

You've graduated to find the flux the air up in the seats and dad marched across the stage and get our diplomas and that was that was graduation. Did your parents come by all means? 

They are they well, they're all local. The course. 

Family went to the graduation and we remember that, well, it was kind of the reward for that adversity you mentioned that you talked about. That was the goal against all odds. That was the goal. And think of any part of a life is sense of accomplishment. 

So I could feel it I had accomplished what I wanted. 

And I think that's a challenge that kids don't face up to today is that they don't, they don't set goals and feel that sense of accomplishment, which is a major factor in character and in life. 

So it's pretty much a triumph to go. It was I couldn't tell at my hand, we came on marine and went all over the world. We're ready. Yeah, ready to go. One friend I would like to mention that I failed to mention was Frank dependency. He was a very close friend through through school using textual engineering. He lives out Morningside, went to work in Griffin. 

I met one of my girlfriends through through his Griffin associates, but I did want to remember Frank, B2C, his family had come over from Germany, had deprived them of all their wealth. 

But they were able to ship things over here somehow. 

And I remember he used to get big boxes of German chocolates and add always make a point of calling on him the day that the chocolates were supposed to. 

But Frank was another fine, good friend to take General Davis. You didn't tell us where you met Mrs. Davis? 

I say sometimes use a camp follower, but I'll get to that. I get countless June North Carolina. She was a school teacher about 80 miles away at Little Washington, North Carolina. 

She was with a choral group that was entertaining the troops, and she had a friend who was quite, quite a fine vocalist, and my friend dated a vocalist and I had a car, so we doubled a1 and that's how I got an hour. Serendipitous. 

Tell us a little bit about your days after you had your diploma in hand, what happened? 

Well, I caught a bus for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where the Marine basic officer training was done at the foot of Broad Street Navy Yard. And that was about 1011 months course. Lot of theory. 

Arrival rains, a shooting exercises up in Indian Town Gap, pennsylvania, digging trenches and so forth and so on. Just a full year of of getting ready to be a marine officer. 

One interesting aspect of that was the fact that in my high school ROTC, I had small presentation on Stonewall Jackson, Georgia Tech. I prepared a paper on Stonewall Jackson School. 

I prepared another paper on Stonewall Jackson because he was my hero and his, his theory of being a leader was he had mounted his horse and ride to the sound of the guns. 

So wherever the battle was being fought, That's where Jackson went and not interfere, but to reinforce, to support. 

It was only, only after my, in my third war in Vietnam that I got a helicopter, which was my horse so I can leave Stonewall Jackson and flat. I tell that story many times. After bases gu, I wanted to see I spent a year and a heavy cruiser, USS Portland in the Pacific. And we went and I got left her in Pearl Harbor is some months before Pearl Harbor. And I got interested in the Marines aboard the ship. About 4040 marine attachment or mission that manning of the five inch guns. And so I got to understand guns and ammunition and compete and they didn't have electronic computer. We had mechanical computers for controlling the gunfire. 

So I put in for a school in Quantico Marine Corps School, Quantico, Virginia near Washington, where they had a what they call a base defense weapons course, which is primarily about and guns and ammunition and surveying and this kind of thing. 

But halfway through the course, I recognize it. That the mission of this unit would be parked on an island somewhere on the Pacific, kinda lost. 

And so one of the great Marines of all time, chest it polar was my company commander and bases gu and he's now instructor on a clock and a course. And I went to him and said the major polar. I don't think I want to do this. I don't want to change to something more more marine and lake. And he said, Well, is at one job done in the 1st Marine Division in Cuba. They just forming the first division before the war started. The one job down there for an any aircraft officer in this applied for so if you want it, you got it. 

So I got out of that base defense business over into the marine division where the where the real, real war as far again, proud and so kind of moving in that direction. Went to Cuba. Jess's inner side as we arrived there on a ship of young Marines who are just joining up. 

And we had measles on board and we've got quarantined for a weeks after we got there and we spent the whole time digging latrines and so forth. 

But in the process, the time went by and back to the States and got into one of the old transport ships, found a little backroom for the officers, had a porthole. 

So I moved in and sees the bunk by the porthole where it'd be more comfortable and I was half asleep and two tenants came in and browsing around, who is his younger self star here has got the best bump. We're going to throw him out of there. And I knew the two guys and I knew that I was seeing it too. How about three months. And so I got up and said, Well, you're welcome to come in here if you liked it. I want you to keep this pace clean. I don't own a problem rather you. And they were totally taken aback by this. 

I finally learned I was a little Senior to back to Quantico where we lived in tents for awhile as a anti-aircraft group than to Parris Island for more training. And meantime, Campbell is North Carolina, was being constructed as a new camp. 

And we moved in there again and chance and the first division was fleshed out into a full, full bone fighting outfit. We added to our anti aircraft and aircraft. We added the anti-tank and so forth and expanded into a battalion. 

It was in, we would just getting lined up when the bombs fell at Pearl Harbor and Then we remember exactly where you were. 

Oh yes, I was in a tint tint when it came on and we stayed up the rest of the night listening to the radio and we immediately started packing to go overseas because the Japanese moved down through China, Malaysia, and to New Guinea and the Solomon. 

And we're pulling a serious threat to Australia and New Zealand Because their main forces were over in the Middle East fighting Rommel. 

So our division was immediately packed up and showed out to New Zealand and commercial ships were reloaded and Japanese were billing airfield on guano canal, which pose a threat to the shipping lanes. And so we were launched in there. Fortunately that the only troops on Glaucon out with the labor troops. 

So we got to shore. 

But then the Japanese made it all out effort to evict us from their familiar airfield for the next six months. 

And they ship, they set their entire navy down there, 43 ships and the bottom of the ocean just off, well, national Geographic is just running a series on that. Drove our Navy off and Navy abandoned us. Finally, we had no food except some captured Japanese rice and intersting that. 

I was I was at that time of a battery commander or the anti aircraft and I went by the field, Galli and I noticed that big bowl of rice without leaving black specks in it as the Cook said, why don't we have all those bugs in their eyes? 

And he said, Well, I was the only protein we have stood up with that, Yes. 

Then after the month of October there that the Japanese Navy moved in and they showed us all night and the bombers came over every day. 

I had a close friend, Marine aviator whose medal of honor fighter pilot told me one day that those bombers made a mistake of coming at the same time every day. The fighters would get way up above them and then dive down through the formation. 

They add two fighters always assigned to get the guy on the left flank and destroy their formation code. 

After a few days, the guy on the left flank would always close in or Downtown or something and break up the formation, they keep from getting shot down. 

So that was an interesting tactic, but we got bombed and the shelf or 31 straight days. And I remember in the root bombing where we lost 250 Marines from a car bomb. 

I remember our days when we will buy them for 30 days, we had no casualties because we had little to man trenches. And they just never hit one of those that we've been collected up in a hotel room would all be dead. 

But there's a difference in another poem that people need to realize. Then we held the Japanese all. 

They put many, many ground forces in there to evict us, but we held them off primarily because the Australians who had owned the settlements had trained a lot of native scouts. And the scouts would go out in the jungle, in the mountains and find the Japanese. Tell us where they were, how many what they were doing. 

So we could consolidate our effort where the Japanese were going to attack. 

And that's the only thing I'd say we could not have protected that entire airfield without that kind of a any Australian shares. 

I recently how how he trained his scouts to count it, give them handful of rocks and the left-hand arrow down here. 

So ten Japanese had put one rock and this hand, when they come in and eat count rocks to see how many Japanese had seen that saved the ground battle. And then we will follow malaria, dysentery. 

The Japanese would attack piecemeal and just be totally destroyed and then take us a few days to get the body's buried. And so the flies were just overwhelming and we are medical ship got sunk. 

So we had no at that and then those days for malaria to kind of malaria. And so it went to Australia to recoup. After eight months. 

Finally got enough, never malaria at our systems and cured from a dysentery and backup in the news, New Guinea and Cape Gloucester for the next campaign. 

Then at Cape Gloucester, Iran into my friends, yes, dipolar again, who's who is a new regimental commander. 

And as a junior major, which is below the required rank, I asked him for commander, want to hit battalions and he gave it to me. 

So I was a junior major battalion commander in the infantry from then and we went up to W. W is one of the fiercest battles of the war, but kind of unsung. 

It's about 300 miles off fulfilled being coast and it was part of the effort to get Jack McCarthy has moved back into the Philippines. A lot of adverse publicity about it. We shouldn't have gone there, but I realize it. 

We went there because our intelligence completely failed to tell us that the Japanese had prepared such an in-depth defense they had on the island since World War One, when the Germans were driven off, they had completely tunneled out that entire Hillman as well, five levels of tunnels in depth. In platelets. They've taken benzo, their ships just a terrible mass of defense. 

And my battalion was the first wanted to, but against it and division lost 6 thousand casualties in the first four days. Before I got out of there, I lost 70% of my battalion and casualties, not, not dead, but casualties. And to me, the unfortunate thing was that this was six weeks before he would Gemma. And the word didn't get to those forces because their their naval gunfire support and so forth. We'll even less than ours. And so he would GO became another one of those terrible, bloody battles have to fell a little. I came back to the States, was awarded the Navy Cross for for keeping my Battalion together. I got wounded when I first first landed. 

A sliver from a mortar shell went through my left knee and my doctor told me he could not run a probe through there and do less damage because I was able to continue back to the Marine Corps schools. School there. 

Then my career seemed to be Warfare, rancorous goof Washington, Washington and Marine Corps scoot back the war. Back to Korea War future years later. What today is the 15th of August in the commemoration of J. De VJ Day? 

Yes. Do you remember where you were? 

Aquatic? 

Oh, yes. I remember the announcement. Radio. Vj Day is, has a number of dates. You know, this is the day the emperor surrendered. 

Then they signed papers on the second, I think because the official VJ Day, I was supposed to go to Hawaii. 

The second of September, but i'm I'm not going I've been number of times and the need for me was reduced and now so I'm not going, but I do remember that. I remember also spending some time with the commanding general. I guess he's number two general. It was somewhat I've gotten to know and we, we wrote the history of our action. 

It fell away while I was at Quantico and have been unable to find that recently since we started thinking more about her. I went last last year, I went out to the 50th anniversary of the propeller landing. And I've got a tape now. Pell live an hour, revisit. 

But when Korea started, I'm going to ask the Korean War started because after World War Two we demobilize. We reduced the Marine Corps went from 500 thousand down to 70 thousand. Units were skeleton eyes, they were ill-equipped L train. We were not ready. 

The South Koreans had a 100 thousand ill-equipped Neil trained, poorly deployed for us is we now read the correspondence between Stalin and Kim Il-Sung up North Korea, where this is going to be a five-day operation that we're going to recapture south Korea and set up a unified communist country in five days. 

Well, and they would have except for Harry Truman. 

Truman saw this and within an hour he decided to launch our unready forces in there to protect South Korea. And one day notice to leave. My job. 

Was that time training reserve, Chicago, go to the West Coast, form a new Italian 800 Marines, put it on a ship and five days and go and land at Incheon. 

So that was the kind of pressure we were under the Korean War. 

But we came with good outfit. It was 73% fresh coat. Reserve is from home. 

But they were all volunteers. 

I said second day I had no marine, so I sent trucks around the camp, recruiting Marines and working parties, school classes, philosophers in anybody want to go to good career? 

Joanna, offensively, all volunteer, you got on those trucks and I recruited 801 day. 

So off we went we can't have good outfit carried, carried me through landing and in China and they re-capture. 

So we pursued the North Koreans up 30 miles north of God back in, ships, went around to one side. Wants on Harvard was full of mind. 

So it took five days for the Navy. My answer, we can land the day before, Bob Hope, you got in there with a Entertainment Group. And I've seen him a dozen times since. They always reminded me he landed and shower for ideas. 

So that was good for a laugh up the coast and in the mountains. And it was interesting that in end of October, my battalion had a major battle with Chinese. 

Now this is 150 miles below the Yellow River. And this is where my car that was brilliant at Incheon where he destroy the North Korean IRA. 

But then he's scattered our forces all over the North in such a way that we get in real trouble. He would not believe the Chinese had entered the country. And here we were having a battle a 150 miles inside. 

His staff came over and Tokyo, I show him 100 prisoners, 600 dead Chinese, and he's still, they still convinced it was just some kind of a volunteer force with the North Koreans. And he's still lost this all over the mountains and got us in trouble. 

So off we went main wrinkle or birthday, November the tenth. I took a swim in the river. It was at warm. 

And six days later, the temperature has dropped to 16 below 0 went up on the plateau and Siberian winds shifted. Just dead flesh, frozen flash card or the trucks there, everything. 

There was about three days to get issue when her clothing, everything, Eric and winter eyes and go and again, we went on up to a place called chosen reservoir. And we're using a Japanese base maps and it was chosen now that my Korean friends or object to that. It says it's changing, is chosen as Japanese changing his career and quick call it locked down. We've already been able to ship after we have 12 books named chosen. We've got a national organization named the chosen few. 

So it's going to take a while to get get that corrected. 

But they accept that my battalion live the way out west of chosen reservoir to a place. Like to emphasize you **** knee. And then we were certainly on fall, the Chinese came. We were 25 thousand Americans, a 120 thousand Chinese. We were surrounded for a few days, thought our way out. We had two main forces were divided by a pass where we had a Marine rifle company defending the past. They've got under attack. 

A Chinese regiment and after four days sale efforts to rescue them became my my assignment to go to rescue him. 

And that'd been over the road as little narrow 12-foot road chisel out side of a cliff and there was impossible. 

So I chose to go back through the mountains and come in from the north side of a mountain overlooking the company and rescue that it was a three-day ordeal. Couple of little side stories. 

One of my companies had been cut off and chopped up a bit and I was out rescuing her one night and we will pull it casualties out of the out of the lines and putting them on trucks to haul and back to the medical facilities. And a truck driver came up and started to ask the maternal is light so we can see better. 

I was up on a bulwark directing traffic and a fog bank certainly came in and the driver told my wife his story later said, my truck lights came on. 

I saw someone up on the boulder and I asked her, sorry, Who is that? 

Oh, I say, Oh man, as Carol Davis said, Look, he has a halo. We're going to get out of here. And that were passed all around. 

I'm convinced that province or sad because I got up in the mountains and got down in Chinese hole with my map and compass and party on a flashlight to figure out how to route. I got up. I couldn't remember what I had done that it was so cool. They are chillers that it was 26 below 0. 

We were in the mountains where the where the wheel when my brother-in-law is your winter weather province says it's 75 over 0 into here. I didn't know you could get survive and so I couldn't remember. 

So I got back in and came out with an asthma. And as I pointed to the the asthma, it was a star on the horizon and ever present. Instead it doubled in brightness. 

So provenance again, hopefully we're at, we did this trek through the mountains, fighting off the Chinese and my Marines more gain for me the medal of honor on that tray, rescue the cabinet, open the forces. 

We get back together for a way back to the coast and got evacuated along with a 100 thousand Korean civilians who were trying to escape the Communists then through our career now, as much a hero for that, it's anything else. It helped me to get those civilians. Then back to the States after a year. Again, Quantico and Washington and I didn't have 112 or in Europe. During this period. I had gone to the national war college and I had so little time and intelligence. 

So I went to Europe and served as the intelligence analyst for the European theater for a short time. 

Promoted to Brigadier General, came back random Marine Corps of manpower program for awhile and made a trip to Vietnam. 

Then later on when after the Vietnam War got started, I went out and 68 and then spent a year as a division commander in the northern province of South Vietnam. 

For the first time, got, it took four years to get our forces into Vietnam compared to only four months to get them into Persian Gulf. And that was the difference between the two wars. 

But where the force is there and all new helicopters, everything provenance is on my side again because I launched out and cleaned out all the mountain areas and everything to the amazement of a room. The greatest thing that he'd ever seen happen and so rotate and fitness reports. 

But then after that war, I went back to Quantico to teach students. For awhile. The camp commander at Quantico with development and education command. And from there I went up to four-stars to be the assistant coming out of the Marine Corps. 

And then I retired to come to Georgia to for awhile run a State Chamber of Commerce as executive vice president. Then I got involved with land development with a family cooperation. 

This what you see here is part of then in 87, President Reagan put me on the memorial board and Washington for eight years, I struggled to get the memorial built and dedicated and it's the first project I've ever had where everybody says. It's good. Even though I didn't post things, that memorial is great. The New York Times thinks it's great, so I feel a sense of accomplishment on that part. 

Just tech degree is taken you a lot of places since General Davis and has indeed none of this really was the chemical engineering that you studied. 

Know, I've said many times that when when we're accomplishing initially World War II, there was a report of a German dirigible heading our way. And we went out and set up our guns. And I had to build a bridge through a swap. That was the only engineering I did. Any other was when I ran the gas mass test and a gas chamber that was only chemicals I did. 

So I really never never had a chance to use my chemical engineering. 

But what did you use from Georgia Tech? 

I said the discipline. Oh, absolutely. I think the discipline the hands-on. I could I felt I was I was I felt that I was a dewar. I could do things and get things done. And also my personal relationships at Tech was I said that I could apply loads at all times. 

I always, always, always felt a need to be where the action was, B with my troops, recording them and seeing that they want this kind of approach, I guess so part of the tech background, it was an important thing for you to have learned early on. Oh, absolutely. I've been a liberal arts guy, probably wouldn't have. You wouldn't have gotten on with the job that I had to do. General David, tell us a little bit about the influences that made you the reader that you've become. 

Well, I think as a start, the discipline of an education certainly play that played a role at the hands-on approach to problems. And I met with at Georgia Tech these, these things make for leadership and importantly, history. 

I think the fact that my ROTC courses, you do all the hands-on stuff, digging trenches and firing weapons and so forth. 

But they have a very serious effort and history and you read the experience of leaders. 

As I mentioned before, Stonewall Jackson was my kind of a leader, the guy who would ride to the sound of the gun, knockdown of fear but to ensure victory. 

So i'm, I'm convinced in my leadership I find role models in the Marine Corps chest. It probably would say to me, I said, we don't have wars very often. 

So you're going to be graded on your performance between wars, how you conduct yourself, how you look, how it looks, and those things are important. 

But the same time you need to steady the experience of others in the war. And then he would say also that if you take care of your marines, they'll take care of you. 

And he meant by that, if I should the Marines and Michael and I should know them, know their background or their problems no, their successes and be the leader in real terms. And so I think those, those things really make for, for leadership. And I was fortunate enough to recognize that and worked at it and it paid off. Those very same less than supply to any phase of life, don't they? 

Not just in war. Oh yes, yes, I thought principles of leadership or are there. And then also, as I mentioned before, adversity builds character and in a real way. 

And I'm afraid that too many of our young people today and not having enough adversity to build the kind of characters they need for the future. 

But again, if you feel a strong adversity builds character where the week it can destroy them. 

So again, it's your choice. 

When you studied history of war, in history of great leaders, do you go back and look, even though the technology of war changes, that when you go back and look at into the principles of leadership, remain the same. I mean, if you were to go back and look at Napoleon, he fought a different one than General Lee did. Then chairman did. Oh yes. There are three wars. World War Two, the war, guerrilla war in Vietnam are all totally different. I didn't go to the Persian War, but again, that was totally different. 

But the leadership principles are there, as I say, if you take care of your troops, it'll take care of us, is fits in any kind of situation, any kind of war. 

So the principles are sound and you have to, have to be smart enough to apply them to the changing situation. Recently a book was written about you. We have a copy of it here. The story of Ray Davis. Tell us a little bit how that came to be in a little bit about the book if you lose. 

This book was published by the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation with all proceeds to go to support needy veterans and their families. 

So I was very pleased join forces with them. A rough draft was prepared many years ago. Then through a local friend who's a Korean-American, he is fully, fully computerized. Put this together with me and now it's even ordered. The foundation for 1995. I have many of them. 

I give them away with a little slip in there says Please make a gift to the Foundation for support of the veterans, but it's a complete history of my life. 

It's introduced by the 12th fatal decisions that our government made that led to the disaster in Vietnam. I was, I was in Washington when the war started. I served out there, I came back and still it so I read it. The 12 fatal decisions that lead to that disaster. 

The back I explore the development of the memorial, went to North Korea a few years ago on an info on Michigan. And I describe that situation in North Korea. And I hope that the veterans gain a lot of dollars from this book. It's an autobiography that because you've, you've written a good part of it yourself. It's in much of it in first-person. 

But the, the writing was done by, by others. Edited. I'm very careful to see that. Find a few little mistakes in it, but I was careful to see that the facts are as I remembered them. 

Now, of course I have to be very careful now because with all my War tales written down, I have to tell them the same way. There'll be somebody catching you up if you should have learned a different way. Yes. Sir. 

Can you think of anything else you'd like to share with us today? 

Well, I've talked about my family. 

Not only did I marry this fine Tar Heel from Lincoln County, North Carolina, who was a school teacher, whose name is William Knox Hefner, now Davis. And we've been together for 53 years. First 12 years, we were separated six years because of the wars and so forth. 

And a secret I think they're continuing with the fact that she was writing in a short note every day to tell me about what our young son was doing and what the family was doing. 

And I would in turn we had before I want to scratch out a few words and male and she'd get doesn't know at a time. 

But this communication I think was kept us both both close together and had three children. She's from excused from a large family, which is another story. She wanted ten children. And everything we do now that family is still so close. We have 50 people. Family members go to the dedication of the week. We had the same glute. Good. And the commission, the ship. Everything that happens. It's a total family group. It's most motor oil group of people I've ever been around. That is matter. 

A great deal to all of us who very, very happy with our family of three children, their spouses, seven grandchildren. Little six-year-old was enslaved. Man. Tell me exactly what to do. We just totally happy family lives. That's a wonderful story. It really is. Thank you very much for having us with you today. We really appreciate it. Nothing well, fun and tell our stories. People who are willing to listen to, I guess. Thank you, sir. 

Hundreds of people turned out to say goodbye to retired marine general Raymond Davis, the 88-year old Davis was one of the nation's most highly decorated military officers. He died of a heart attack last week and it was laid to rest in College Park today. Helen Neil is at the Forest Lawn memorial gardens with war on his farewell. 

Tony, this Georgia General who was active into his 80s, is finally a rest this evening here in the Forest Lawn cemetery. 

But you could tell from the send-off he got today, he made his mark. This cub scout from mcdonald's came to Congress for the funeral of a powerful military leader. He saw him though, as powerfully human, act like a regular guy. And he was fired from boys to Marines, to a governor and a senator. The funeral for General Ray Davis drew a crowd of admirers. We gather today to hail a hero. A hero who's military career spanned World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Remarkable. Maggie was the most remarkable man I've ever met. 

That's retired marine general Robert Barrow, who described the remarkable conditions is front dealt with during a key military campaign? 

Minus 25 with wind blowing. 

And where was he? 

In the front? 

He was in front today, honored in an inspiring service that showed the value of a life devoted to defending our country and the ideals he believed in. Truly. The gates of heaven are now guarded by a United States Marine. There was really a sense out here today that this was a life well lived, live in College Park. Helen Neil, CBS 46 Atlanta's news channel.