Perry, Roland "Ron"

Part 1 was recorded on September 30th, 2019 in Tucson, Arizona and it covers the following themes:  

b. 1932 

  • Family and childhood in Hotchkiss, Colorado. Uncle’s WWII flying career, grandfather’s service with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. Family’s early connection to Tucson and Miami, AZ. Uncle Sunny Valdez, Arizona boxing champion. 

  • Perry’s move to Drexel Park in the late 1930s. Capturing rattlesnakes and burros. Elementary school at Sunnyside. Work at feed store. Swimming at El Conquistador Hotel. Mother and maternal aunts. 

  • Picking cotton during World War II as school activity. Raising chickens and rabbits for food during WWII. Fathers work for railroads. 

  • Buying property. 

  • Attending Mansfeld and Tucson High, graduating in 1950. Walking as a child and safety. 

  • A detour about a very long walk/trip around the world in the mid/late 1950s? 

  • Tucson High experience. 

This interview was recorded on October 7th, 2019 in Tucson, Arizona and it covers the following themes: 

 

  • Perry’s return to Tucson in mid-1960s after world travels. Description of the Campbell/Glenn area. 

  • Description of being drafted into the Korean War. Basic training in Hawaii. Arizona’s Army Reserve unit that Perry was involved with in high school. Getting married and annulled before service. 

  • Eclectic details about experience in Korea. 

  • Brief University of Arizona experience. Greek life. 

  • Interest in studying forestry and experience doing surveying work in Happy Jack, AZ. 

  • Flying near Tucson, working in ASARCO mine shop. 

  • Getting married after military service. Selling trampolines in Australia. Working at inlaws’ Australian sheep station. 

  • Getting a job as a surveyor in New Guinea.

Aengus Anderson