Oral History Interview with James Macia, July 21, 2000 Page: 2

                                
COX
IT HAS A LOT OF HISTORY.
HERB
RIGHT. MY FATHER WAS A MINING MAN. HE CAME THERE FROM NEW MEXICO
WHERE HE WAS BORN AND RAISED. (HE)WAS A SUPERINTENDENT OF MINES AT THE TIME
I WAS BORN. HE CONTINUED ON THERE, WORKING MINES. SOME HAD BEEN WORKED
OUT. THEY WERE SILVER MINES. MANY PEOPLE MADE VERY GOOD FORTUNES THROUGH
MINING. OTHERS ALWAYS FELT THEY WERE GOING TO, BUT THEY NEVER DID THEY
CONTINUED TO MINE.
I STUDIED MINING ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA. I WAS IN A
CLASS OF 38. I WENT THERE FROM HIGH SCHOOL. IT WAS AN EXPECTATION IN OUR
FAMILY, THAT MOST OF THE MALES WHO COULD MAKE IT THROUGH COLLEGE COULD
BE ENGINEERS. AND FOLLOW MINING ENGINEERING.
AT THE TIME OF THE WAR, FIRST OF ALL, OUR CLASS DIDN'T MOVE RIGHT
THROUGH BECAUSE THERE WERE TWO PROBLEMS. ONE OF THEM WAS A DEPRESSION IN
THE MID 30"S AND ALL. PEOPLE WERE RATHER SLOW IN GETTING AHEAD. AND ABOUT
THAT TIME, WE STARTED FORMING A MILITARY FORCE, ANTICIPATING HAVING A REAL
WAR. I DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL IN '38, ACTUALLY '39 AND I WENT INTO A MINING
VENTURE WITH MY FATHER AND SOME OF HIS FRIENDS RIGHT DOWN ON THE MEXICAN
BORDER, NEAR NOGALES, ARIZONA. WE MADE A STAKE ON A SILVER MINE IN THAT
AREA. HOWEVER, DURING THIS TIME, THE PRESSURE CAME ON WITH MUCH MORE
EMPHASIS OF BRINGING PEOPLE INTO THE MILITARY. THE FLYING CADET PROGRAM WAS
STARTED AND THIS WAS THE MEANS OF BRINGING YOUNG COLLEGE FELLOWS AND
GRADUATES INTO THE MILITARY WHERE THEY COULD HAVE A COMMISSION, A
MILITARY COMMISSION AND BE A LEADER AND ALL OF THAT.
MY INTEREST WAS NOT GREAT AT ALL. I WAS MORE INTERESTED IN THE MINING
ENGINEERING THAN IN THE MILITARY. HOWEVER, IN THE COURSE OF THE LATTER
YEARS OF THE '30's, THINGS GOT A LITTLE BIT BETTER AS FAR AS THE DEPRESSION WAS
CONCERNED. OPPORTUNITIES BECAME MORE NORMAL THAN THEY HAD BEEN FOR
SEVERAL YEARS. A GROUP OF OFFICIALS MOVED AROUND THROUGH A COMMUNITY
GOING TO COLLEGES AND PLACES AND GETTING RECRUITS TO COME IN TO APPLY A
CADET PROGRAM. THAT'S HOW I BECAME A MILITARY MAN. I DID FIND THE
OPPORTUNITY HOWEVER TO CARRY ON A BIT WITH MY FATHER AND SOME OF HIS
FRIENDS IN THE MINING AREA DOWN IN THE NOGALES AREA. I WAS FINALLY SELECTED
WITH AN ENGINEERING BACKROUND TO BECOME A CELESTIAL NAVIGATOR THE AIR
CORPS WAS JUST BEGINNING TO TRAIN CELESTIAL NAVIGATORS, WHICH WE HAD NOT

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