In early 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Ross family was living near Cedar Rapids Iowa. The Father Clayton was working for Dow's Dairy Farms. Clayton, a patriotic American went down to sign up for the Military and because he was blind in his left eye from an accident early in life he was not acceptable for military service. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was a devastating attack on the U.S. Naval fleet and America; everyone huddled around the radio at nights and listened to the narration of the war. That summer my Mother Esther and Father Clayton had heard they needed aircraft parts. They had a 1934 Ford with a rumble seat which they removed and replaced with a wooden box, large enough to hold five kids and a small dog named, Teddy. Gas, tires and food were hard to come by with the war on. Clayton had the determination and heart of an elephant. He and his brother Louis had worked on the railroad, rode trains and learned how to survive during the depression days, and was determined to help in the war effort. He bought several boxes of dried dog food, flour and a few potatoes. He loaded the five boys and their dog in that box in the back of the car and headed for Arizona. About two weeks later they arrived. Clayton went right to work at the aluminum plant. 12 hour shifts producing aluminum for aircrafts. They provided housing at Arizona Park just across the street from the plant. Employees just walked across from the aluminum plant to go home. This worked just fine as there were not much car parts or gasoline. After the war ended the Ross family moved near Guadeloupe at the west end of south mountains just outside of Phoenix where they built their own 12" X 15" adobe house.

Clayton Ross building his house.