Dale Davis (July 3, 1920–February 1, 1994)
Florence Doak Davis (August 29, 1921–June 29, 2003)
By Stephen Callum and Sarah Schneider
Early Life
Dale D. Davis was born on July 3, 1920, in Effingham, IL.1 Dale’s parents, John W. Davis and Ollie Lewis, married in Effingham on September 21, 1902.2 Dale had two older brothers, Kenneth and Arlin Davis.3 Dale’s father worked as a farmer in 1910. The 1920 census, shown here, states that he worked as a school superintendent.4 He passed away in 1925, and Dale’s mother later remarried.5 By 1930, Dale was living with his stepfamily, consisting of his stepfather Mance McCallen, a county judge, and stepbrothers Bryan and Robert.6 Dale also had a stepbrother, Paul, who was no longer living in the household in 1930.7 In addition to the McCallens, other family members living at home in 1930, as seen here on the census, included his mother, brother Arlin, grandmother, and Virginia Davis, who was the same age as Dale and was either his sister or his cousin.8
Dale attended Effingham High School and graduated in May of 1938.9 He eventually married Florence Doak from New London, CT, then living in Effingham.10 Dale and Florence were in the same graduating class of Effingham High School.11 After graduating from high school, Davis attended Eastern Illinois Teacher’s College in Charleston, where he made the honor roll at least one term.12 He attended the Teacher’s College for two years before he began his military service.13
World War II Military Service
Davis enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps on November 26, 1940 at the age of twenty.14 He enlisted in East Saint Louis, IL for a one-year term as an Aviation Cadet.15 In April of 1941 he began advanced training at Randolph Field in Texas, where pilots were trained, and he flew as a cadet until July 11, 1941.16 He then rose through the ranks of the Army Air Corps as a Second Lieutenant and First Lieutenant, and in 1943 he was promoted to the rank of Captain.17 Davis’ World War II service involved over a year and a half fighting abroad, including time in the South Pacific.18 During this period he flew a twin-motor bomber.19 Pilots such as Davis played an essential role in bombing missions in the South Pacific that targeted Japan.20 In May of 1943, Davis was recognized with a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Purple Heart for his courageous actions, and the Purple Heart indicates that he was wounded in the course of his service.21
Dale Davis’s wife, Florence, was also a pilot; she got her pilot license around 1943 and she was part of the US Women’s Airforce Service Pilots during World War II.22 The Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) were the United States’ “first women pilots of military planes” and they flew every kind of Army Air Force plane.23 They assisted with the war effort by flying planes in the United States in order to by free up male pilots for combat.24 Missions undertaken by WASPs included “ferrying aircraft from factories to bases; towing targets for gunnery practice; test-piloting new and refurbished planes; flying military personnel; training male pilots; and piloting bombers to train navigators, gunners, and bombadiers.”25 Because the WASPs were classified as civilians, they could not receive military benefits during or after their service.26 Florence Davis also gave back to the country throughout her life as a Red Cross volunteer for forty years.27
Later Military Service and Aeronautical Engineering Work
Dale Davis’s military career spanned World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.28 During his military service, Davis became a commissioned officer.29 He attended the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana as a military student, and in 1949 he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering.30 As he was finishing his studies he was sent to Chicago and then to Maxwell Field in Montgomery, AL.31 In 1950, Davis was awarded a prestigious fellowship from the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation “for advanced study and research in jet and rocket propulsion.”32 He was one of four chosen out of over one hundred applicants throughout the country and was the only member of the military selected for the fellowship.33 Davis studied at Princeton University’s Guggenheim Jet Propulsion Center through the program, and his fellowship was renewed for a second year in 1951.34
Davis continued to work in the field of jet propulsion through the 1960s, including in a position as the Deputy for Aircraft and Missile Test at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, NM.35 Davis left Holloman Air Force Base in 1963, and by that time he had reached the rank of Colonel.36 He left Holloman in order to assume a position as “manager of the Federal Aviation Agency’s supersonic transport program division.”37 This was part of an effort to develop supersonic transport in the United States in competition with Britain and France, and President Kennedy announced the program the same year that Davis began his position.38 At a speech to the Air Force Association San Bernardino Squadron in February of 1964, Davis described aircraft companies’ proposed designs for the project and the efforts to determine which designs would be chosen.39
Davis was based either for that position or following that position at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, where he was working as the Director of the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory by 1967.40 As part of his role at the laboratory, he co-hosted a conference and presented awards to scholars doing innovative research in the field.41 In 1972, the Davises moved from Ohio to Manatee County, FL, perhaps for another job or for their retirement.42
Dale and Florence Davis had two children, Karen and Michael, and ultimately had at least three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.43 The Davises appear to have passed on their legacies of service and academic achievement to their children. Karen Davis was chosen as one of the American Association of University Women’s “Girls of the Month” while attending Alamogordo High School.44 She was active in extracurricular activities, including Math Club, Junior Classical League, and Senior Girl Scouts.45 Michael Davis served in the US Army, and his military career included advanced infantry training at Fort Dix, NJ and Infantry Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, GA.46 He received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in October of 1967.47
Dale Davis died in Bradenton, FL on February 1, 1994 at the age of seventy-three.48 Florence Davis died nine years later in Florida on June 29, 2003.49 Both Dale and Florence Davis are interred at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida where their many years of service to the country will be remembered.50
Endnotes
1 “U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 18, 2017), entry for Dale D. Davis, Eff, Eff Cty, IL.
2 Ibid.; “Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1940,” database, Familysearch.org, https://familysearch.org (accessed August 8, 2017), entry for John W. Davis, Effingham, IL. Note: Some records list his mother’s first name as “Minnie,” but other records list her name as “Ollie.”
3 “1920 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed August 7, 2017), entry for John W. Davis, Effingham, IL.
4 Ibid.; “1910 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed August 7, 2017), entry for John W. Davis, Lucas, Effingham, IL.
5 “Find A Grave Index,” database, Familysearch.org, https://familysearch.org (accessed August 9, 2017), entry for John W. Davis, Effingham, IL.; “1930 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed August 7, 2017), entry for Mance C. McCallen, Douglas, Effingham, IL.
6 “1930 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed August 7, 2017), entry for Mance C. McCallen, Douglas, Effingham, IL.
7 Ibid.; “1920 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed August 7, 2017), entry for Paul A. McCallan sic, Mason, Effingham, IL.
8 “1930 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed August 7, 2017), entry for Virginia Davis, Douglas, Effingham, IL.; “1940 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 19, 2017), entry for Verginia Davis sic, Effingham, IL. Note: On the 1930 census she is listed as a niece, and on the 1940 census she is listed as a stepdaughter of Mance McCallen.
9 “Effingham to Graduate Largest Class,” The Decatur Herald, page 10, May 27, 1938, Newspapers.com.
10 “U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 19, 2017), entry for Florence Doak Davis, Florida National Cemetery.; “Obituaries…Florence D. Davis,” The Bradenton Herald, July 2, 2003, page 2C, NewsBank.; “Effingham Flier Made Captain,” The Decatur Daily Review, July 7, 1943, page 7.
11 “Effingham to Graduate Largest Class,” The Decatur Herald, page 10, May 27, 1938, Newspapers.com.
12 “Effingham Students Win Honors at E.I. Normal,” The Decatur Review, January 11, 1940, page 4, Newspapers.com.; “Effingham Students Win Honors at E.I. Normal,” The Decatur Herald, January 11, 1940, page 14, Newspapers.com.
13 “Effingham Major Wins Fellowship for Jet Study,” The Decatur Herald, May 8, 1950, page 2, Newspapers.com.
14 “U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 18, 2017), entry for Dale D. Davis, Effingham, IL.; “Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 – 1946 (Enlistment Records),” database, The National Archives, Access to Archival Databases, https://aad.archives.gov/aad/index.jsp (accessed April 18, 2017), entry for Dale D. Davis, Army Serial Number, 16040947.
15 Ibid.
16 “Begin Advanced Training,” The Decatur Herald, April 22, 1941, page 18, Newspapers.com.; “U.S., Select Military Registers, 1862-1985,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 18, 2017), entry for Dale D. Davis, IL.; Stanley Sandler, ed., World War II in the Pacific: An Encyclopedia (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 2001), 104.
17 “U.S., Select Military Registers, 1862-1985,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 18, 2017), entry for Dale D. Davis, IL.; “Effingham Flier Made Captain,” The Decatur Daily Review, July 7, 1943, page 7.
18 “Effingham Flier Made Captain,” The Decatur Daily Review, July 7, 1943, page 7.; “Effingham Major Wins Fellowship for Jet Study,” The Decatur Herald, May 8, 1950, page 2, Newspapers.com.
19 “Effingham Flier Made Captain,” The Decatur Daily Review, July 7, 1943, page 7.
20 Air Force Association, Air Force Fifty (Nashville, TN: Turner Publishing, 1998), 11.
21 “Effingham Flier Made Captain,” The Decatur Daily Review, July 7, 1943, page 7.
22 Ibid.; “Obituaries…Florence D. Davis,” The Bradenton Herald, July 2, 2003, page 2C, NewsBank.; “Obituaries – Manatee County…Florence D. Davis,” The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, July 2, 2003, page BM6, NewsBank.
23 Molly Merryman, Clipped Wings: The Rise and Fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II (New York: New York University Press, 1998), 6.
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid.
26 Ibid., 8.
27 “Obituaries…Florence D. Davis,” The Bradenton Herald, July 2, 2003, page 2C, NewsBank.; “Obituaries – Manatee County…Florence D. Davis,” The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, July 2, 2003, page BM6, NewsBank.
28 “U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca. 1775-2006,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 18, 2017), entry for Dale D. Davis, Florida National Cemetery.
29 “Officers Given Permanent Rank,” The Decatur Herald, January 28, 1947, page 2, Newspapers.com.
30 “39 Decatur Residents Among U.I. Graduates…Effingham,” The Decatur Herald, June 9, 1949, page 10, Newspapers.com.; “Effingham Major Wins Fellowship for Jet Study,” The Decatur Herald, May 8, 1950, page 2, Newspapers.com.
31 “Effingham Major Wins Fellowship for Jet Study,” The Decatur Herald, May 8, 1950, page 2, Newspapers.com.
32 “Three Illinois Scientists Get Guggenheim Awards,” The Chicago Daily Tribune, May 8, 1950, page 5, Newspapers.com.
33 “Effingham Major Wins Fellowship for Jet Study,” The Decatur Herald, May 8, 1950, page 2, Newspapers.com.; “Guggenheim Fellows,” Princeton Alumni Weekly 50, no. 1 (September 23, 1949): 9.
34 Ibid.; “Effingham Man Gets Fellowship,” The Decatur Herald, May 21, 1951, page 5, Newspapers.com.
35 “Holloman Colonel to New Position,” The Alamogordo Daily News, February 5, 1963, page 1, Newspapers.com.
36 Ibid.
37 Ibid.
38 Ibid.; Jeffrey Pfeffer, Managing with Power: Politics and Influence in Organizations (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1992), 232.; “AFA Speaker: Supersonic Airliner Seen Ready in 1971,” The San Bernardino County Sun, February 28, 1964, page B-7, Newspapers.com.
39 “AFA Speaker: Supersonic Airliner Seen Ready in 1971,” The San Bernardino County Sun, February 28, 1964, page B-7, Newspapers.com.
40 “W-P to Host Conference,” The Xenia Daily Gazette, April 23, 1968, page 8, Newspapers.com.; “Two County Men Cited for Work,” The Xenia Daily Gazette, July 21, 1967, page 9, Newspapers.com.; “Royce Forman is Honored by AF,” The Gibson City Courier, July 27, 1967, page 2B, Newspapers.com.; See also: “Xenia Area Resident Given AF Meritorious Award,” The Xenia Daily Gazette, November 30, 1967, page 11, Newspapers.com.
41 Ibid.
42 “Obituaries…Florence D. Davis,” The Bradenton Herald, July 2, 2003, page 2C, NewsBank.; “Obituaries – Manatee County…Florence D. Davis,” The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, July 2, 2003, page BM6, NewsBank.
43 “Effingham Man Gets Fellowship,” The Decatur Herald, May 21, 1951, page 5, Newspapers.com.
44 “AAUW Girls,” The Alamogordo Daily News, January 12, 1962, page 6, Newspapers.com.
45 Ibid.
46 “Armed Forces…Ends Training,” The Xenia Daily Gazette, March 15, 1967, page 17, Newspapers.com.; “Armed Forces…Gets Commission,” The Xenia Daily Gazette, October 28, 1967, page 14, Newspapers.com.
47 “Armed Forces…Gets Commission,” The Xenia Daily Gazette, October 28, 1967, page 14, Newspapers.com.
48 “U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 18, 2017), entry for Dale Davis.; “Florida Death Index, 1877-1998,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 18, 2017), entry for Dale D. Davis, Manatee, FL.; “U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 18, 2017), entry for Dale D. Davis, Bradenton, 34209, Manatee, FL.
49 “Obituaries…Florence D. Davis,” The Bradenton Herald, July 2, 2003, page 2C, NewsBank.; “Obituaries – Manatee County…Florence D. Davis,” The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, July 2, 2003, page BM6, NewsBank.
50 “U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca. 1775-2006,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 18, 2017), entry for Dale D. Davis, Florida National Cemetery.; “U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current,” database, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com (accessed April 19, 2017), entry for Florence Doak Davis, Florida National Cemetery.
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