Oral Histories
Dale & Donna Oviatt
Donna: b. 1929 - Dale: b.1929

Q: Did you find work here in Moab?
Dale: I spent one winter up on the mountain here taking care of cows and such.
Q: Who were you working for?
Dale: Joe Wheeler up on Wilson Mesa. I went to the Navy after that. After I got out of the Navy, I worked in the coal mine up in Horse Canyon. I worked there for awhile and then they had a big lay-off. The guys that had been there for ten or twelve years knew they were going to get laid off, so I didn’t wait around. I came to Moab and got a job.
Q: And this was when?
Dale: Oh, it was 1953 when we came down here, I think.
Q: What did you do in the Navy?
Dale: I was a Damage control man.
Q: Where were you stationed?
Dale: In Nagusta, Japan.
Q: Whose damage were you controlling?
Dale: Mostly my own, I think. Actually they put me in beach group and there was no rating there for damage control man. I was there like I am now, didn’t know what I was. I was stationed on an Army base; drew Navy pay; and ate Navy Chow; had a full seabag of Marine Greens.
Q: So you just did whatever needed doing? Donna, may I ask you where you were born?