Patriotism runs deep in the heart of Foster C. “Jock” Davis of Russellville.
“I am proud to say we might be the only family in Russellville, even in Pope County, that can say we have served in every modern-day war except Vietnam,” said Davis, who is 91. “My father served in World War I. My three brothers and I served in World War II. I also served during the Korean conflict. My son-in-law served in Desert Storm. And my three grandsons served in Afghanistan and Iraq and continue to serve today.”
Davis served in the Army for about two years during World War II with tours of duty in New Guinea, Australia and the Philippines. He served in the Arkansas National Guard, retiring as a major after 37 years of service to his country. He is also retired after more than 50 years in the poultry business, both in sales and sales management.
Davis was born in Malvern, the son of Mary Cecil Cox and Roy C. Davis.
“Dad was in World War I,”
Jock Davis said, adding that his dad served in the Battle of the Argonne Forest in France. “He died [in 1939] when I was 13.”
Davis and his three brothers, all of whom are deceased, served in World War II.
Roy C. Davis Jr. was the oldest brother. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps, got out and then joined the Marines right after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was a drill instructor at Texas A&M University in College Station.
Edward W. Davis was the second-oldest brother. He served in the Air Force and retired as a lieutenant colonel. He was a decorated pilot and was among those who flew the B-26 Marauder Bomber “Flak-Bait,” which is now on display at the Smithsonian Institute Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
John Edsel Davis was the youngest brother, and he also served in the Air Force.
Jock Davis grew up in Prescott, graduating from Prescott High School in 1943. He joined the Army that same year; he was called to active duty in October 1943.
“I lied about my age,” he said, when asked if he was drafted into military service or enlisted. “I graduated from high school when I was 17.
“There were four of us in the service at the same time,” he said.
“My two older brothers had entered the service before I did,” Davis said. “That left me and my baby brother at home to help my mom. That was during the Great Depression.”
Davis spent boot camp at Camp Abbott in Oregon, which was a combat engineer camp, preparing troops for combat in either the Pacific or European theater. He was then sent to Camp Stoneman in California for shipment overseas to Oreo Bay, New Guinea.
“I believe jungle fever and reptiles were much more feared than the Japanese,” Davis said. He said the soldiers were given Atabrine to ward off malaria.
Six months into his duty there, Davis awoke with a very high fever. He had contracted dengue fever.
He survived the fever and was sent to Melbourne, Australia, for rest and relaxation. He was then assigned to an engineering topographic battalion that made and shipped maps of all sizes, types and colors to regions to be used in battle. By then he was a corporal, and his duty was to serve as the company clerk.
Davis was then shipped to the Philippines, docking at Manila Harbor. He spent 1 1/2 years there, still making topo maps.
“By then, I had gained enough points to go home,” he said with a smile.
He recalled being shipped home to San Francisco and seeing the Golden Gate Bridge. From there, he was taken to Camp Stoneman, boarded a train and headed for Arkansas. Three days later, he entered Fort Chaffee to undergo a week of debriefings.
“They tried to talk me into re-upping, but I was not interested,” he said with a smile.
“I was off to Prescott,” he said. “I arrived about 11 p.m. with just my uniform, my duffel bag with a few military clothes, shaving kit and boots. I walked home, about 20 blocks.
“When I knocked at the door, my mom answered, ‘Who’s there?’ I answered, ‘Your son, Jock.’
“There was much weeping and hugging,” he said. “I was home for good.”
Davis said he didn’t really know what to do with his life, and some of his friends suggested he enroll in college. It was 1946, and Davis headed off to Arkansas Tech University in Russellville on the GI Bill.
It was there he met his future wife, Melba Jean Thompson, who was from Scranton in Logan County.
“The last thing my daddy told me when I left for college was, ‘Don’t hang around with those old World War II vets,’” Melba Davis said with a laugh. “He was outside the dorm, looking at all the freshmen girls. He asked me if he could carry my bags up for me.”
That was the start of their romance. They have been married 68 years. Melba, 86, worked 32 years as a fraud investigator for the state of Arkansas Employment Security Division.
Jock Davis graduated in 1950 from ATU with a degree in business administration.
“I spent 50 years in the poultry industry,” he said. “I was in sales and sales
management.”
He also developed a seminar — Get Yourself Together (GYST), which he presented to poultry-management majors in colleges across the Southern United States.
Additionally, he was a color photographer for the National Poultry Conference.
“I did that for about 30 years,” he said.
Jock and Melba have one daughter, Jocqueline Ruth Baker, 63. She is a retired schoolteacher in Brooks, Georgia. She and her husband, Phil Baker, who is a retied
Army lieutenant colonel, have three sons, who are all in the military.
Col. Phillip “Cain” Baker, 40, is the youngest colonel to serve in the Army. He will be stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, beginning in July. He and his wife, Courtney, have three daughters: Hannah, 9, Caitlin, 7, and Ashley, 5.
Lt. Col. Patrick Joshua “Josh” Baker is the liaison for the Army to the United States Congress in Washington, D.C. He and his wife, Haley, have two daughters: Taylor, 6, and McKenzie, 3.
Capt. Jacob “Zachary” Baker is stationed at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. He and his wife, Anna, have three sons: Jonah, 7, Elijah, 5, and Roman Carrigan, 3.
“We love our eight grandchildren,” Jock Davis said.
Davis has spent countless hours as a volunteer and member and officer of civic and service clubs.
He is a member of the Arkansas Tech University Hall of Distinction and a distinguished “Red Coat” member of the Russellville Chamber of Commerce; he served 15 years on the ATU Alumni Board of Directors and two terms as its president.
He is a past president of Friendship Community Services, a past president of the Russellville Jaycees, a deacon at First Baptist Church and has been director for 30 years of the adult Sunday School program at First Baptist Church.
He is a member and past president of Fishers of Men, a member and past vice president of the Military Officers Association of America and a past member of the Russellville School Board.
He and his wife are also avid supporters of Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society. Melba Davis is a breast-cancer survivor.
Jock Davis has just been appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to the Arkansas Motor Vehicle Commission.
The Arkansas Society Daughters of the American Revolution most recently recognized Davis with a National Defense Distinguished Citizen Award.
Jayne Spears, regent of the Major Jacob Gray Chapter in Jacksonville, introduced Davis to the audience gathered at the ASDAR Angels Among Us luncheon on March 18 during the society’s state conference at the DoubleTree Hotel in Little Rock.
“Mr. Davis represents all that DAR stands for — God, home and country,” Spears said.
Mary Deere, state regent, joined Spears in presenting Davis with a medal and a certificate.
Davis has written his autobiography, Brothers Four: Reliving the Great Depression and World War II, which is self-published.