Anna Lorraine Pantages
My name is Anna Lorraine Pantages and I am
married to George John Pantages. At the time of
World War II, I was single and my name was
Ana Lorraine George. I was born on April 19,
1923 and reared in Los Altos, California in a very
loving and strong Catholic family. I had the
normal grade school upbringing and graduated
from Mountain View Union High School in June of
1941. I immediately became employed as a
saleslady at the F.W.Woolworth store in Palo
Alto, California. While working there, World War
II began on Dec.7, 1941. When the Japanese
were ordered to evacuate to internment camps,
they flocked to the store to purchase any and all
types of rope to secure their belongings for their
move. It was a feeling of mixed emotions to be
helping these people to evacuate our area when
they were your neighbors, friends and classmates from the time you were a small child.
As time went on, more and more people wanted to be a part of the war effort by working in one of many
companies making war related materials. Various schools were set up to train potential workers in many
skills. In Palo Alto , just such a school existed called “The Peninsula Defense Training Center.” It had a
complete machine shop and a drafting department. Being artistic, an aunt of mine encouraged me to
enroll in the drafting class. I kept my job at Woolworth’s but attended night school several nights per week
at the Defense Center . As I progressed, an engineer from Hendy Iron Works in Sunnyvale , California
came through the class looking for potential draftsmen, admired my work and offered me a position. I
accepted the offer and was very surprised when the chief engineer approached me one day and told me
that he never had much faith in women draftsmen until I came along! I attributed that compliment to the
excellent training I received at the Peninsula Defense Center . Hendy’s was very involved in the war
program and I remained there until the division in which I worked finished their contract and closed.
Speaking of Hendy”s,eventually my older sister and my father also became employed there. My dad had a
day shift and my sister worked the graveyard shift while her husband was stationed in Canada . They had
a three year old son whom my family cared for while my sister worked. A neighbor of ours also was a
foreman in the machine shop at Hendy’s. His expertise was invaluable,because his father owned and
operated an iron works business in Palo Alto , California where our neighbor got his training at an early
age. Enclosed is a book I have discovered entitled “The Iron Men of Hendy’s”. From there, I went to work
at National Motor Bearing Company in Redwood City , California – also as a draftsman. This Company was
also very involved in the war effort. The enclosed picture was taken in the engineering department and the
enclosed “Victory Letter” came from National Motor Bearing Company within hours after the end of the
war. Two lady friends that I worked with at Hendy’s and National Motor Bearing Company are still my
friends to this day and we enjoy every opportunity we can get together for a visit.
To stay informed about the machinery I was drafting, I also attended an Engineering Science and
Management War Training Course at Stanford University where I was the only woman in the class and
received the enclosed certificate in Elementary Machine and Tool Design.
While I was enrolled in the drafting class I became friends with a nice young lady named Athena Pantages
and her younger brother, John. They were also taking the drafting course and we would visit at each
other’s homes from time to time. Athena and John’s family owned a candy store in Palo Alto . They would
send Care Packages of home made candies, etc. to their brother who was overseas on the aircraft carrier,
USS Princeton (CVL-23). Without my knowledge, Athena was also including pictures of me taken on those
visits to each other’s homes! Her brother’s name overseas was George and when the war ended, I got to
meet him in his family’s candy store. We were married ten months later on October 27, 1946 (Navy Day).
We have a wonderful family of five children and two handsome grandsons and will be celebrating our fiftyeighth anniversary this year.
George graduated from the University of California school of Pharmacy before joining the Navy and was
assigned to the Pharmacy on the Princeton . He is a “plank owner” being on the ship from the time of it’s
commissioning to the time it was sunk. He is a survivor of the USS Princeton, which was lost during the
Battle of Leyte Gulf. He continued his career as a pharmacist after the war, eventually owning his own
pharmacy where I worked in a managerial position, along side George.
We both loved our calling and enjoyed a very successful business through the years. George will be
attending a USS Princeton reunion in San Diego , California on October 24, 2004 exactly 60 years to the
day that the Princeton was sunk. A memorial service will also be held on the new Princeton .
Another way I was involved in the local war effort was by playing music for the troops. As my sister,
brother and I were growing up we all had the opportunity to learn to play musical instruments. I played
the accordion, my sister the Bass Viola and my brother the Saxophone. We formed a trio and often
entertained our family and friends. We even won first place on Uncle Benny’s Amateur Hour, held at the
local high school. When the war presented the need for entertainment for the troops, we were invited to
play for dances at the locals USO’s. Most of the soldiers and sailors were from the nearby bases, such as
Moffett Field in Mountain View , California and an army camp established on Page Mill Road in Palo Alto .
On occasion, the Army would send their military vehicles to pick us up. One particular stormy, rainy night,
they had packed us all into this big truck to bring us home when the driver accidentally backed into an
open trench. Of course we were a little nervous about the whole thing but they enlisted the help of a
“jeep” to pull us out (probably manufactured by Ford Motor Co. because I understand that Ford built
thousands of jeeps for the war effort). I remember thinking what makes them think that little jeep is going
to pull this big truck out of the mud! Well, it worked and we were delivered to our homes safe and sound!
The Military Services were always so happy to have us entertain them they couldn’t do enough to please
us.
I was relieved when the war ended because I was very fearful and concerned for the men who were out
there fighting for their lives and for the safety of all of those left behind.
My family and I will always treasure the opportunity we have had to enjoy America ’s Freedom accorded
us by the bravery and sacrifices of our Military!
Respectfully Submitted, Anna Lorraine Pantages
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/anna.htm
Armentha Bolles Waldron
I was born in Rexroat, Oklahoma on February 14, 1924. I lived there until
age 17, when I finished high school.
My parents were Ernest and Violet Bolles. My mother was born in England
and my father was born in Indian Territory before Oklahoma became a
state. My great-grandmother was a Cherokee Indian Princess. Her family
was driven out of Alabama on the Trail of Tears, to live on a reservation.
I am proud of my heritage.
I was raised with eight brothers and two sisters.
My father worked in the oil fields in Oklahoma for Magnolia Oil Company for
many years.
At age 5, I entered school. We had a country school with 12 grades. We
walked a mile at school. At age 17, I graduated from high school as
Salutatorian.
After graduation, I went to California with my older brother and his wife to
work. I was not old enough to work in the Defense Plants, so I worked in a
Lemon Packing House in Chula Vista , California until I reached age 18.
I lived with my brother and his wife. I soon reached 18 years of age, and was workign at Rhor Aircraft
Corporation. I met a young man from Texas . His name was Joe Thomas Waldron. He was also 18 years of
age.
We were married the following December.
We had 5 short months before he was called to serve his country. After his basic training at Camp Collan ,
California , he was sent to Fort Ord , California . Later he was sent to Fort Lewis , Washington .
I left Rohr Aircraft and moved to Tacoma , Washington , to work for Boeing as a riveter.
I lived with a retired Senator and his wife, State Representative Albert Meade. There were 5 army couples
living in the upstairs, sharing the same bathroom.
After several months, my husband, Joe, was told he would be leaving for Fort Bragg , N.C. I went back to
California and worked for Rohr Aircraft for some time. After Joe left for Europe , I went to my parents
home in Oklahoma and worked for Douglas Aircraft Corp. in Oklahoma City again, as a riveter. We built
the Douglas B-19, the largest airplane ever built at that time.
After working at Douglas Aircraft Corp. in Oklahoma City for only a few months, I received word of Joe’s
death on March 12, 1945 , in Moers , Germany . He had died 30 days prior to the date of the telegram I
received.
I prayed for God to let me die because I had nothing to live for. But, God always knows best. He gave me
something to live for.
When the war was over, Jim Henry Waldron, brother to Joe, came home from the India/Burma/China
Theater of War. Before the war, we had worked for Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego , California , on B24 airplanes.
After a short while, we were married and now have 2 children, 4 grandchildren, and 3 great grand
children.
On March 25 th, 2004 , Jim lost his life to lung cancer.
I have grieved a lifetime from the loss of Joe and now my grief is great for the man who has been my life
for 58 years.
I have learned to be thankful for the privileges we have in America.
I am 80-years-old and live near Seymour, Texas.
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/armentha.htm
Delana Jensen Close
I spent two years of the war in a small town in
the San Francisco Bay Area, at the Yuba
Manufacturing Company, making 155 millimeter
howitzer field guns.
The word “howitzer” is usually defined as, a
cannon with a short barrel; however, the
155mm howitzers we made were not short. The
barrel alone was twenty-three feet long and the
finished gun weighed fifteen tons. This gun,
often used for high trajectories, was capable of
firing over any obstacle, including hills.
boring lathes.
When I arrived in California from Utah , I was
told that a war plant had opened up in the town
of Benecia and was hiring women, so that is
where I applied for work. After a battery of tests
I was put to work operating one of the large
The plant was camouflaged with big swirls of brown and green paint so it could not be detected from the
air, and dark green paint so it could not be detected from the air, and dark green paint covered the
windows. Many men and women worked at Yuba in ten hour shifts.
I was later told that when I applied for a job, the plant had been testing women to find out if they were
capable of running one of the big machines. I was hired and was the only woman to ever operate one of
them, and in six months time I was training men for the job.
My machine was thirty-five long and rested in an oil pan that was thirty-eight feet long. The oil constantly
lubricated and cooled the machine as it bored the metal. I spent the war years standing on the rim of that
oil pan so I could look down on the section of the barrel that I was working on and be able to reach the
part of the operation which I performed. My job was to bore out the inside of the barrel where the breach
lock fit. It had to be perfect, the measurement within 1/1,000 th of an inch.
While my girl friends worked in the shipyards at Vallejo for 65 cents an hour, I was among the elite: I
made guns at Yuba, and was a machinist second class. I joined the union, paid my dues, and earned $1.31
an hour. And on that grand amount, with the help of three housemates, I bought a house and furnished it.
Women working the plants usually wore denim coveralls. They were quit trim, tight at the waist and rather
becoming. Hair had to be covered so that it did not get caught in the machinery. This was done with a
“snood”. A snood was a heavy hairnet that hung loose on the back of the neck to accommodate our long
hair. There was a denim cap that came with the snood attached and matched our uniforms.
Most of the men employed at the plant were older and had worked at Yuba before the war when the
company manufactured dredges.
One of the men “Mac” ran a machine that was sixty-four feet long, it bored out the inside of the barrel. His
was one of two machines at the plant that were on lend-lease from England . Mac used to bring me
gardenias in a brown paper bag. For someone from the desert mountains of Utah , who only saw gardenias
on Prom Nights, this was a real treat. So too, were the home made cookies his wife would back and send
to me. These sweets were indeed special since food was rationed and sugar, especially, was very hard to
get.
But we were living in a special time and place. There was an energy in the air and in the people. We were
wanted and needed and important to the war effort.
V-E Day, on May 8, 1945 was a day of celebration, but one of mixed emotions for us. We lost our jobs.
Yuba would no longer make guns. We said our good byes, and when the foreman of my section shook my
hand and said goodbye, he added, “You were the best man I had.”
Delana Jensen Close
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/delana.htm
Donna Jean Harvey
When I was first asked if I wanted to contribute
my memoirs, I was dubious because I felt no
one would be interested. Then I decided it was
important to me having contributed in some way
to the war effort. So, here is my story, what I
can remember of it, not in detail so as-not to
bore anyone, but just state important issues as I
remember them.
I was born in Casper Wyoming on January 25 th,
1922 in a raging blizzard! My parents were
visiting a rancher friend when the storm broke
out and we didn’t have a chance of leaving. My
mother went into premature labor with me, and with the help of an old sheep herder, I was brought into
the world. Mother and child survived this ordeal and when the storm broke and travel once again
permissible, we left for our home in Cheyenne , Wyoming . I was raised and educated there. I was an only
child. I graduated from Cheyenne High School in 1940. I married Lewis Early Harvey in January 1941. He
was drafted when the war broke out and was sent to the Aleutian Islands , and from there he transferred
to the Paratroopers. In October I gave birth to my first son, Lewis Early Jr..
Labor force was critical at that time so I went to United Modification Plant and learned how to rivet, do
installations of various kinds and etc. When the “new” radar system was implemented, I asked to be put
on that crew. The F.B.I. investigated my and found me to be worthy and I proceeded to install radar along
with my riveting duties, while waiting for the next shipment of planes to come in. They were sent here
from the factory, literally as “shells” and we put them together and sent them on their way to Europe and
other points where the B-17’s were needed. I installed relief tubes occasionally, did some aerial
installations, loaded the shells in the magazines, installed plexiglass for the rear gunners and etc. When
the next shipment came in we had plenty of riveting to do and a time allotment to get them ready. I was
awarded the Army-Navy E Award and was presented with a pin. I’ve always been very proud of that!!! I
certainly got educated in more ways than I ever expected, being a very young girl. But looking back I
wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything.
My feeling about the war in most instances was a conglomerate of mixed emotions. I had lived a fairly
sheltered life, but I listened and learned and managed to survive, but I must admit, it left a scar on my
memory that can never be erased.
I was living in one of my parent’s apartments during the war and since they were both retired, they babysat my young son. My mother decided after a while that she too would like to do something in some little
way to help. So she applied for maintenance and between my father and the girl next door, I managed to
have a baby-sitter available at all times. The government was asking for rubber donations so my mother
and I gave them our rubber girdles!! We liked to think that our girdles helped win the war!!!
My life took on a totally new perspective the longer I worked there. I saw many tragic accidents, none of
which I care to talk about which haunt me to this day.
I couldn’t do much socializing as I had a small infant at home to care for when off work and besides I was
really pooped. Those midnight shifts were “killers”. I hope I never have to do that again!! I tried to write
weekly letters to my husband in between my other duties. I had two cousins in the service but they moved
around a lot and I lost track of them. I knew after the war that one of them went down with his ship and
the other supposedly died at his job being an oss.personnel. (I think that’s what they called them). I did
enjoy sharing stories with my co-workers as most of them were “war widows” also and we gave each other
a shoulder to cry on when needed and a hug whether we needed it or not just to get ourselves through the
shift.
Our community gathered together and collected scrap metals and such to help in the war effort and thanks
to a good neighbor, who was growing a victory garden; we managed to get gifts of potatoes and lettuce
etc. The government issued coupon books that allowed us two bananas a week, one pound of sugar and so
many gallons of gas. We traded back and forth depending on our individual needs. I had a 1934 Ford and
fortunately, it wasn’t a gas eater and it managed to get me where I was going when I needed it. Our
family was a “Ford family” and is so to this day.
You asked me to list my most memorable character at that time and I would have to say that it was a
Swiss gentleman who would climb to the top of the haystackers and yodel. (A haystacker is a sophisticated
ladder with spiral steps and we used it to string the aerials from front to back on the B-17’s) it was about a
story high and gave him a good platform to yodel. Everybody stopped working long enough to listen to
him. I helped him many times. He was a man in his 50’s at that time, so I have to presume he is no longer
living. He was a gentle person, and had a way of making a bad day more pleasant. We always sought him
out for advice.
There were no unions there at that time and no baby sitting service provided. The single people formed a
club and they entertained themselves after work but I was a married person with a child and so I didn’t
participate in any of their activities.
While waiting for the next shipment of planes to come in I was chosen to take the “rookies” on a tour of
the plane and explain their duties as such. One very gullible teacher, who had no knowledge of anything
mechanical, asked what the relief tube was. I told her that it was a communication device and if she would
go outside the plane and put her ear up to the opening, I could talk to her through the hole. Of course she
was gullible and when she had her ear in place, I poured water down the tube!! My favorite trick. This is
definitely not how you win friends and influence people, but I was usually forgiven after a short period, but
was given a leery eye from then on.
After the war was over, most people went back to their previous jobs. I opened a beauty salon and when
my husband returned home from the service he got a job with the Frontier Refinery. A couple of years
later we had another son and named him James Lee. Both our boys are married now with families of their
own. Our oldest went to the University of Wyoming and joined the Air Force R.O.T.C. and became a Master
Sergeant. He has two sons and a daughter and three grandchildren. My youngest son has one son and two
grandsons. I did write to one lady after the war buy she has since passed away and I’ve lost contact with
any of the others that I worked with.
My husbands nerves were never good after he came home, he had bad health most of his life after that.
He passed away in 1999. I remained in Laramie because I like the small town atmosphere, the college
activities that go on. It’s a fun town with lots of things for us senior citizens to do.
The day the war was over, I gathered up my young son and my parents and we went to town and danced
in the streets with everybody else, waved our flags and just generally whooped it up!!! Praised the Lord, it
was over!! And yes, the war changed my life. My experience taught me that I am not alone in this
universe. I grew up!!! It also taught me that war is hell, pure hell, and that if we don’t learn from it, we’re
bound to keep repeating it over and over again. I pray that once and for all that we learn all we can from
it and get the message across and that people will learn to live in peace and respect each other for who
they are and just get along. GET ALONG!!!!! If we don’t, there may not be any one around next time to
talk about it!! I want something more than that for the next generation. GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!
And for what it’s worth – this is my story.
Respectfully, Donna Jean Harvey
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/donna.htm
Elaine Lucile Snider (Beaman)
I was born on November 7, 1924 in Mondamin, Iowa population
about 500. I was the fourth from the top of twelve children born to
Jesse Miller Beaman and Esther Marie Hoenig. Esther was a French
WWI bride that my father met in a small town in France. Her first
year was hard not speaking English and the women in Mondamin
were not kind to her at first. My father didnt go to high school so
he really wanted his children to go and to get that diploma.
After graduating from high school I got a job as a maid in Omaha ,
Nebraska , the only future I could expect. I would hitch hike from
Omaha to Mondamin. My father heard about the National Youth
Administration offering a course in radio assembly in Kearney ,
Nebraska . I applied and was accepted and traveled to Kearney ,
found a sleeping room with kitchen privileges. When I finished the
course I went to work at the Kearney Army Air Base. I met my
husband at a dance at the National Guard Armory that we, my
room mate and I could walk to. Women went without escorts and
danced with the service men. He was transferred to Sioux City ,
Iowa and I also moved to Sioux City and went to work at the Air
Base. We were engaged by that time.
My husband Kenneth Snider was a sargeant in the Air Force. We
were married April 8, 1944 in Kansas City , Mo. , his home town.
After the war we lived with his mother in Kansas City for awhile.
Our first daughter was born September 8, 1945 . Two more daughters were born in Kansas City in 1948
and 1954. We lived in D.C., Kansas City , Independence , Mo. Arlington , Va. and in Annandale , Va. My
father in law had a restaurant in D.C. and invited my husband to learn the business, so we moved to D.C.
We did spend three and one half years in California where I worked in electronic assembly and when we
moved to D.C. I got a job at The Naval Research Laboratory making use of the training that I got in
California . I retired with twenty two years of government service as an electronic technician.
My husband was in the restaurant and night club business in the District of Columbia for years.
I think we felt that the war was necessary because of Hitler. I didn’t learn to drive until I was 42 so I had
to find rides to and from work. My memory is not good. There were shortages, we coped and we shared.
We had friends that we played card with. We loved to go to dances. I learned to dance by folk dancing
with girls. My husband and I loved to jitter bug.
In Kansas City we moved into an apartment a few blocks from his mother and his three sisters so we
cared for each other’s kids. We were friends with another couple. The husband worked with me and we
lived in the same building. Their first child, a boy was born a few months before my girl. They went on to
have four boys while we had three girls. They live in N Carolina and we write and have visited each other.
I have seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren, a set of triplets among them. Two of my
daughters live two and four miles from me and the third lives fifty four miles away. My husband died in
October 1992. I compiles a Beaman Family History for my family of which I am proud. Of the twelve
children only myself and three brothers are left and I, at 79 am the oldest. TV is a good companion for me
because I live alone. I crochet and sew constantly. I belong to a Methodist church just a half mile away. I
am active there, in charge of a group of Seniors and enjoy Bible study and choir.
Please let me know if I can be of any further help. Sorry about my louse memory.
Yours truly, Elaine Snider
Additional notes:
While working at the Air Base in Kearney I was sent to Tinker Field in Oklahoma City for a few weeks.
On one occasion I think it was in Sioux City I was three months pregnant and was checking equipment in a
plane other than the B-17’s and I slide down a vertical shaft – from that time on my boss refused to let me
go on the places. I had to remain in the shop. My daughter was born when we lived in Sioux City .
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/elaine.htm
Frieda Loretta Calvano
I was born in 1922 in Brooklyn, New York and raised there.
So were my two sisters and brother. My parents had
emigrated to the United States from Italy.
Following high school graduation I became a dress maker,
having learned these skills from my mother. This industry
began losing sales as the war ensued and I ultimately lost
my job.
Our community’s civil defense included sirens, air raid
warnings and many families invited enlisted soldiers in for
dinner, etc. Many of them were so young it seemed to us
that they didn’t know what they were doing. Although we
were unhappy about his war, we shared enthusiasm to
support the effort because we were attacked[in Pearl
Harbor ]. Shortages of gasoline began and some foods
became limited, but not fruits and vegetables. In fact, my
mother even began our own Victory Garden .
Seeking employment, I went to the Unemployment Agency
and was asked if I would be willing to work in another
industry or profession. Desiring to contribute to the war
effort I next found myself working in a DuPont Corporation
factory in New Jersey – it made bombs.
So I left home for the first time and lived in a room at an estate converted by DuPont into housing for
working girls. Needless to say, my father was concerned and my mother was worried. I guess we were all
a little bit nervous. There was not much social activity after work and most of that time was taken up with
writing letters and making new friends. My boyfriend, John Calvano, passed through Australia during the
Army’s Pacific campaign. Receiving a letter from him there was a big thrill.
My job was to pack the gunpowder into the detonators of the bombs. Anyway, I was so focused on my job
that the man in charge asked me if I wanted to become the line foreman and so I did. I guess I was doing
pretty well and in time, he asked “Why are you working here?” I said that we all wanted to do whatever
we could to help end this conflict swiftly and bring our boys home safe and sound. After all, I had a brother
and boyfriend in the army overseas. He recommended I take a test administered by the Unemployment
Agency which offered potential higher education benefits.
I passed. The Agency said if I go to New York University , they will pay my tuition, unemployment benefits
and place me in a job after completing a course of study in one of their cooperative programs. In return, I
would be obligated to remain in that job for “the duration of the war”.
It was 1942. I took Drafting English, as it was called, for eight hours each day – like a regular job. A year
later, I was placed in a job at the Sperry Gyroscope Company, Brooklyn , N.Y. , as their first female
“draftsman”.
Sperry helped develop microwave technology for modern radar systems. The company produced computer
controlled and stabilized bomb sights for the B17 and B32 bombers, automatic pilots, computing fire
control systems, mobile airborne radar equipment, and automated take off and landing systems.
I drew anything they[Sperry] gave me. Much of the job involved consulting with the men on how to build
those things from the blueprints we drew. Eventually, I was promoted to the position of Assistant to the
Manager of the Tool Design Department. I never made much of it all until business, government and
schools made a big deal and fuss over the potential in competent workers. All I knew is that I did love it.
What’s the difference where I’m a woman or a man if I’m doing a man’s job?
In spite of our nation’s circumstances, it was one of the most interesting parts of my life, showing me
things I never knew existed. It taught me that if there’s something you think you should do, then do it.
How did the war change my life? You couldn’t even go into it, but it did give me a better value of life.
When victory was won we went crazy; the joy was crazy, and crying…
Oh, and my brother and boyfriend overseas? They both made it back safely. I married my boyfriend soon
thereafter and started a family.
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/frieda.htm
Geraldine Snyder
I was born Geraldine Snyder on 6/16/23 in the town of
Beaverton, Michigan. My parents were Welcome and Beatrice,
I had a brother Jinks who was two years older, and a sister
who died at age two.
My parents were small farmers. Mom went to school through
8 th grade and Dad through 6 th grade. I attended a one
room county school through 8 th grade, then my parents
decided to leave the farm and move to Flint , Michigan to find
employment. I then attended junior high in Flint , and
eventually transferred back to Beaverton , where I worked for
my room and board in town. I graduated high school in 1940.
I went on to college at Central Michigan University in Mt.
Pleasant , Michigan , intent on a two year teaching certificate.
I attended for three semesters and unfortunately had to drop
out for lack of funds.
I stayed living in Mt. Pleasant , working at a restaurant. I met
and started dating James (Jim) Grisdale, a big, brawny man,
and I stood barely five foot tall in my stocking feet. We
happily became engaged in 1942. He was an oil field worker
at that time, and got drafted in the Army February 19, 1943 .
When he entered the service, I moved back to Flint to live
with my folks.
At that time, my mother was working in a war plant and helped me get hired there too. The war plant was
an old abandoned gas station and garage converted into a small factory. It was called The Strong Tool Co.
, and made small shafts. There were 30 of us employed there, and the older women all wore dresses, but
us younger gals wore slacks. Mom ran a lathe that made the shaft, and I worked the grinder. I had to look
through a microscopic machine, sit on a high stool, and grind the star shaped grooves in the very end of
the shaft. It was a grueling job, hard on the eyes and fingers, and that stool was hard on the behind! I
worked at The Strong Tool Company for just three months before it suddenly closed shop.
My mom then got a job at Buick right away, while I wasn’t so lucky. I had heard that the A.C. Sparkplug
plant in Flint was hiring, so I decided to check it out. It was nothing like being hired today. I had to go
over to the main building which was enclosed by a very high fence and locked gate. People crowded all
around the gate very early in the morning and at 8:00 am sharp, the boss would come out and just
randomly point to a person. Those selected would enter, go to the office and fill out the necessary papers,
and then being work immediately. I went every morning at 6:00 am for three weeks straight before I was
selected.
I was hired as an “inspector” and was sent to General Motors Tech to learn the job. I had to learn how to
use a precision micro instrument and a slide rule and measure very minutes sizes. My work had to be very
exact. I was assigned to inspect the firing pins, thousands at a time. The pins were only about 1/4” long,
and 1/8” round, so very nimble fingers were required. I was told these pins were sent to England and used
in the bombs that were loaded into the R.A.F. planes. I sat on a high stool in a booth that had three sides
covered. There was a screen in the front where I would put the firing pins on a fitter pin, and then it would
magnify the firing pin onto the screen. The good pins were left in the tray, the bad ones were put in
another. I inspected thousands of these pins about three time a week, 8 hours at a time. Every single pin
had to be inspected, and I felt like I was doing a very important job for the War effort. If I wasn’t
inspecting firing pins, I would inspect smaller tools. Every little part had to be measured and recorded, so
it was very taxing work. If I ran out of small tools, I would move on to other types of tool, as you could
not stand around with no work in front of you.
My foreman was a rough talking boss, he would talk a blue streak of cuss words. I could wear slacks to
work so that was nice. We had no breaks at all, only long enough to use the restroom. You would get
docked if you punched the time clock too early, or too late. There was a ½ hour lunch break in a lunch
room, and you could not stop working until the whistle blew.
I worked the inspector job on the midnight shift from 11 pm to 7 am , six days a week. To get to work I
had to take a trolley uptown, change trolleys there, and take another to the plant.
After a while, I was selected to be an air raid warden and first aid representative. I was excused to go to
another building and take classes pertaining to first aid, taking care o the sick and inured, etc. I believe
these classes were taught by the Red Cross. I had a big glow in the dark badge to wear and my duty was
to get everyone to stop production in my department every time the alarm siren rang. I would turn the
lights out and everyone under the tables for safety. If there were any injuries, I was called on to
administer first aid.
I was working so much there was little time for social life. I would write to my fiancee Jim every day, and
to lots of friends and relatives in the service. Once in a great while, I would splurge and got to a movie. I
was saving all my money so I could go and visit Jim’s camp in Fort Bragg before he was sent overseas,
and we wanted to get married before he left. In 1943 I resigned from A.C. Sparkplug and traveled by
Greyhound bus to Fayettesville , North Carolina . I met a gal from Detroit and we became buddies. We
shared our lunch with traveling servicemen and they shared their goodies with us. The USO handed out
food to the servicemen at several bus stops. It was a friendly and interesting trip.
I reached Fayettesville on New Years Eve. I was sent by the USO to a hotel to share a room with another
girl, until I could have a room in a private home that took gals who were visiting servicemen at Fort Bragg
. Well, I was a greenhorn, having never traveled or stayed in a hotel before. I didn’t realize they had a
hotel safe, so I tied my hard earned $500 in my hanky, then pinned it into my jumper pocket. My
roommate waited until I was asleep, then stole all my money. She paid the hotel bill, and it was later
thought she took the midnight train out of town, at least this was the conclusion the police came to
afterward. I spent all New Years day looking at mug shots at the police station, but to no avail. I lost my
money, but gained a valuable lesson. I had to wire home for money, I had bonds so my folks knew I could
repay the money as soon as I got home. They telegraphed my the money so I could stay in North Carolina
until I got married.
Fayettesville was a segregated town. The blacks stayed on one side of the street, and the whites on the
other, and there was no crossing over to the other side. Blacks had to sit in the back of the bus, and were
not treated well considerately at all.
I then moved into a rooming house to live. Jim had to stay at camp and couldn’t get into town until the
weekend. I got the blood tests and necessary exams needed to get married, but Jim decided he didn’t
have time to go through all the hassle, he was ready to get the show on the road! He was able to get
three days off in a row, and we rode a rickety old bus across the border to Bennetsville , South Carolina .
We arrived at midnite, went to the court house, and found two other eager couples ahead of us. We were
married at 1:00 in the morning on January 9, 1944 by the Judge of Probate, and had two policemen as
witnesses. It rained cats and dogs all weekend long. Sunday morning we went to the bus station and took
the bus to Camp Legune where Jim’s sister and brother-in-law were station. They were a WAC and Marine
respectively. We spent a pleasant day and night with them before returning to Fayettesville on Monday.
We said our goodbyes Tuesday morning – Jim was headed overseas and I was going back to Michigan .
Jim sailed on the Queen Mary, going to England , then across the channel to France . His name is on the
Wall of Liberty where the Battle of Normandy took place. He then went to Belguim, Luxenburg and
Germany , receiving three battle stars and finally coming home safe and sound.
I returned to Flint now known as Mrs. James Grisdale, and discovered I was pregnant. Since pregnant
women didn’t get hired, I moved in with my folks, and got a job baby-sitting six days a week. I did this
until May, 1944, when I decided to move in with my aunt in Beaverton . She had a farm and I helped with
the cooking and cleaning until my baby boy Tony was born July 13, 1944 . Having a baby certainly was a
different experience in those days. I went to the Gladwin Hospiial and one thing I remember is that the
Army insurance required you to stay in bed for 10 days after giving birth – you couldn’t even put your feet
on the floor. They wouldn’t pay for the hospital bill if you did get out of bed. Jim had his sister wire me a
dozen red roses; that was really something special.
After having my son, I left the farm in Beaverton and rented a two bedroom apartment in Flint . My
allotment was raised to $80 a month for the baby, before I had him it was $50. I also got an extra $30
more when Jim was overseas. There was no child care then, so I had to stay home and raise Tony on my
own. My apartment was upstairs, I had a kitchen and two bedrooms, I shared the bathroom across the
hall. I had no television, no car, no newspapers. I walked around Flint , rode a trolley, wrote letters or
read True Story magazines for entertainment. I did have a little radio and my favorite program was Hit
Parade every Saturday night. I had an old granite wash dish and I planted lettuce in it, and sat it out on
the back outside stairstep. That was my Victory garden.
Then I had great news. One of my girlfriends from Mt. Pleasant was moving to Flint while her husband
went in the Army. She rented a room in the same house where I was living. She was wonderful company
for me, we ate together on her days off from the Coney Island Restaurant where she worked. It was so
good to have a friend to talk to. One of our very special days was when we would get our meat ration
book. We would pool our stamps together and head to the little grocery store. We would buy some liver
and two big onions. Boy, would we have a feast! This was our special treat each month, and we sure
enjoyed it. Liver was the cheapest meat we could buy, but it tasted like filet mignon to us.
Jim was discharged from the Army on December 9, 1945 . We borrowed my dad’s old Ford and packed up
and moved back to Mt. Pleasant . Jim got his job back in the oil fields, and I went to work raising our
family. It was rough at times, we didn’t earn enough money to buy a car for six years. We ended up
having five children, and when they were all in school in 1967, I got a job working in the Central Michigan
University mailroom. I worked there for 20 years, and retired in 1986. During that time, I took classes and
earned an associates degree and a Bachelors degree in English.
I lost Jim in 1998 after 54 years of wedded bliss. I am now 81, and live alone in my small house. I do lots
of reading, gardening, and bird feeding. I love to bake and do canning for my grandchildren. I also am a
field editor for Taste of Home magazine and try out new recipes. I’m enjoying my children, 13
grandchildren, and 11 great grandchildren. My health is great and I am very active.
Because my family was heavily involved in the Armed Forces, I’ve written a lot of letters and done a lot of
worrying and praying over the years. My dad was in France in World War I, my husband was in the
European Theater in World War II, my brother was in New Guinea in World War II, my sons Tony and Greg
served in the Army in Korea , and my son Kyle was in the Navy for six years.
My wartime experiences have taught me patience, to be happy with what I have, and to be thankful I am
alive to write about it.
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/geraldine.htm
Grace F. Ochenski
I was born in the old Grace Hospital in the city of Detroit , Michigan .
My mother didn’t know what to name me so she named me after the
hospital.
My mother passed away when I was 1 year old. My brothers and
sisters and I were all placed in boarding homes until my oldest sister
took us home to live with my father.
My husband and I went to school together (Nolan). When he was
drafted and went to California he asked me to come there so we
could get married ( 9/1/1943 ) in Holy Rosary church in San
Bernardino .
Before I went to California the war broke out I worked at N.A.
Woodward in Ferndale , Michigan . We made flanges for airplanes.
When my husband shipped out I came home and lived with my inlaws. I remember working at Dodge main making bows for the army
trucks. I left there and went to work at Ford Motor Company in
Highland Park , Michigan . There is where we learned to rivet parts
on the B-24 planes. When the war ended we were laid off so the
men that came home could have the jobs.
My brother Dominick Bon Tempo was wounded and shipped home. My brother James Bon Tempo was in
the tank corp.
The girls I worked with at Ford’s would give blood and we could say who we wanted the blood to go to.
We also had a red and white flags in the window with blue stars for each service man. (Pictures enclosed).
Yes we were rationed food and clothing but we managed very well.
I made many friends while working at Fords and we kept in touch for awhile, and then lost touch.
When the war ended in Europe I heard the 13 th Medical group was coming home so I was so happy I did
summersaults! My husband was coming home. We picked him up at the train station.
My husband had bought some perfume for me and one of the bottles broke. He sure was teased about
that.
I am enclosing, cards, telegrams, passes, and more pictures. I hope you can use them.
After my husband passed away April 29, 1992 I decided to do volunteer work and the local hospital. I have
been a Volunteer for 10 years at St. John Macomb Hospital in Warren , Michigan .
Thank you for the opportunity to touch on a few old memories.
Sincerely, Grace F. Ochenski
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/grace.htm
Helen Ann Derusha
I was born in Camas Valley , Oregon and raised in California . My
origins are an American mixture of Irish, Scotch, Welsh, and
German. My father was a Civil Engineer and worked for the State of
California . We moved to several places in California during my
young growing years – Vacaville , Sacramento , Visalia , and
Bakersfield . I attended Bakersfield Junior College after High School
before my marriage to Loring R. Derusha in 1940, in Bakersfield ,
California .
At the time World War II I was married to my present husband,
Loring, who joined the Navy in 1942 and served as a Pharmacist
Mate. We owned a small produce business in a grocery store and
worked there together. We had no children.
My feelings during the war were of utmost concern for my loved one
as he served during the war on an YMS minesweeper in the Pacific
Theater. I waited anxiously for each letter from him and read each
scrap of news about the war in the evening paper and listened to the
radio news.
Some of the first changes in my life after the war started were that I
moved back home to my parents home in Bakersfield , and took a
job as a riveter working on U.S. Army training planes at Minter Field
, California , some twenty miles north of Bakersfield . My job as a
riveter was an interesting one and challenging. I was among the first women employed at that type of
work. We were given some training with a riveting gun and some metal sheeting to practice on under the
careful eyes of an instructor. We were impressed with the importance of our job as many lives would
depend on our work. The planes we worked on took many a hard landing and had to be repaired with the
utmost skill. I also learned to use the bucking bar and a great deal of my work consisted, because of my
small stature, of working inside the airplanes and using a bucking bar while my partner worked on the
outside with a rivet gun.
While writing the above paragraph I can recall some of the incidents of that time and remember that we
women weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms by the men who would work as our partners. They
showed some hostility towards us which led to some teasing and down grading. We seemed to be
accepted in a little while and our work progressed more smoothly. I remember one buxom good looking
young lady, who was actually named Rosie, who loved her red tight fitting blouses and which bothered the
men so much the manager asked her to wear her coveralls to work.
After basic training, my husband was stationed at Oakland Naval Supply Depot in Oakland , California
before being sent overseas and I was able to join him there. The Bank of America trained me as a Teller
and I worked for them in Berkeley , California and then transferred to the Bakersfield, California Bank of
America when my husband left to serve in the Pacific Area.
We were not unionized at the Bank of America and we didn’t concern ourselves about this. While working
as a Savings Teller I worked with a group of women and one older man, Mr. Jones, who was in charge of
the department. As Mr. Jones had had no experience on the inner workings of the Savings department, we
all stayed after hours and tried to balance the ancient machine used to notate savings’ balances,
sometimes staying until none or ten o’clock at night. I enjoyed having a position in the bank and felt good
about earning my own money.
While serving overseas my husband wrote frequently but since he served on a minesweeper the mail cam
sporadically and was heavily censored. But I was happy to receive it in any condition.
Concerning wartime shortages, we managed quite well and I don’t remember any real hardships. When I
lived at home and worked at Minter Field I rode in a car pool and we gave the driver our gas ration books
and a fee for driving us as I did not have a car. When I lived at home with my family, we turned our food
ration books over to our Mother and she purchased our home supplies. While working at Minter Field I
sometimes carpooled with different groups of people at different times as I worked day, graveyard, and
swing shifts. My sister had returned home also during the war and we entertained ourselves by going to
Movies or to see friends.
My Husband and I made some Navy friends when he was stationed in Oakland . One friend we still
correspond with at Christmas time.
Concerning V-J day and V-E day we were all overjoyed that the war was over and that we had won the
war and happy that our men would be coming home. After the war my husband continued his business a
green grocer and owner of a vegetable stand in the Silver Spray Market in Bakersfield and I worked with
him.
The war changed us in subtle ways in that we were three years older and had traveled away from our
roots and had been through different experiences. After a few years of selling vegetables, we decided to
travel a bit and bought a small trailer and started out to see other places. Since that time we have lived in
a few different places and enjoyed our life for the most part. I went back to college and received a
Teaching Credential, and taught a few years. I also became interested in Art and joined a painting group. I
listened to a wonderful cello concert and remembered that I was a cellist in my high school days, and then
started taking lessons on this instrument again.
We are comfortable settled in a mobile home in a nice park in the beautiful city of Santa Cruz , CA. where
we enjoy dinners at a nearby Senior Center , and where I also play my cello with a small group of seniors.
Our health is good and we enjoy walks and various forms of exercise.
Thank you for including me in the” Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park". I am
indeed honored.
Sincerely, Helen Ann Derusha
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/helen.htm
Helyn A. Potter
Becoming Rosie the Riveter
When I jointed the War Effort, my husband was overseas in the
Army Air Corp and I had an infant son, Gene. It was January 1943.
All military wives were to receive a small allotment check – mine
however was delayed or lost in the paper-work bureaucracy of the
times (but re-established six months later). Off to the
unemployment agency I went. At the unemployment agency, I was
told that I could be trained to be a riveter, assemble-line worker, or
a welder.
“What do you need the most?” I asked.
“Welders!” replied an elderly gentleman. So, welding was my
choice.
The local high school provided the initial welding training. There I
would train for three weeks – 40 hours a week – and earn 50 cents
an hour. One morning the instructor read a list of names of women
who had completed the 200 hours of training and were ready to be
transferred to St. Louis for advanced training.
There must be an error.
My name was read. But, I had only completed 90 hours of training.
When questions, my instructor said, “Helyn, you’re ready.”
However, when I arrived at the St. Louis Welding Center , the supervisor looked at my 90 hours of training
with a frown and in a gruff voice barked “You’re not ready.” “Please sit over there.” So, I sat and waited
while all the other women who had completed the 200 hours demonstrated their welding skills. When they
finished the instructor reluctantly let me take the test also. I ran a straight bead at perfect penetration.
“Well, okay.” he said. “You are ready.”
Three weeks later, we were sent to the Curtis Wright Aircraft Plant to take the Army-Navy Welding Test. I
passed and was hired full-time at 65 cents an hour. I welded parts for the P-40 War Hawk (Flying Tiger),
C-46 Commando Transport, and the Helldiver…stamping my name to every weld, a required safeguard for
our Fly Boys.
With a nickel raise quarterly, I was soon earning $1.10 an hour to support my infant son. After several
months my eyes were getting bad from the flame and fumes from the welding torch. This forced me to
switch to riveting on the P-40 War Hawk fuselage until the end of the war.
War changes everything. I was a welder and now a riveter in an all-woman work force. Five years earlier, I
was studying ballet, planning to become a ballerina. As we supported the War Effort, the collective soul
of women changed.
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/helyn.htm
Ida Lemler Roseland
I was born on a farm in Pottery County, South Dakota on April
28, 1920, the youngest of four children. I had one sister and
two brothers; one of my brothers served in the Army in Europe.
On Pearly Harbor Day, my sister, brothers and I were home. A
neighbor came to visit. We had heard the news of Pearl Harbor
on the radio and were kind of in a state of shock; it did not
seem real.
My sister was the oldest; she and a friend left for San Diego ,
California , to work at Consolidated in June of 1942. Her friend
had a friend living in San Diego .
In January of 1943, a friend and I left by train. I went to San
Diego , my friend stayed in Los Angeles with her sister. We both
went to work in the airplane factories. I rented one room for
$10 dollars a week; this included 2 meals a day and the
landlady did my wash.
not pass inspection.
I went to classes at Balboa Park for four weeks, and then went
to work at Consolidated. I worked with airplane gas bags. They
needed to be cleaned out very well, then we bolted a small door
on and applied hoses. The inspector then came around to see if
they passed inspection. I do not remember any of mine that did
I worked the 2:30 until 11 PM swing shift. All of the people I worked with were very friendly. I soon had a
ride with a car pool and didn’t have to ride the bus very long.
One of the experiences I had was meeting people from different states and countries. There was a lady
from North Carolina who had a southern drawl and I could not understand her very well. Also the people
from Mexico who I met for the first time were all very friendly. On weekends if we were not too tired,
there were always places to go. Coronado Island and Tijuana , Mexico were two of the places. There were
always Saturday night dances in downtown San Diego and of course the movies. We lived near North Park
; it was like a small town back home. Then there was Balboa Park and the zoo.
On VE Day, I was at a movie in downtown San Diego with a marine from Texas . They stopped the movie
and ran the message of the war’s end. Everyone was quiet, the marine I was with said he needed to report
back to camp. He took me to the bus stop and left to return to camp.
My sister and I stayed on in San Diego for awhile. I worked in a drug store and a restaurant. After more
than three years in California , we decided it was time to go back to South Dakota on March 12, 1946 I
met my husband and we married soon after. My husband had served in the Army for several years in
Europe , and was one of the 12 soldiers to meet the Russian soldiers at the Elbe River at the end of World
War II. We had three children, a son and two daughters. We lived on a farm for 37 years; my husband,
Bud, passed away in 1984.
The picture I’m enclosing was taken at Austin Studio in San Diego while I was in California . I am still in
touch with one friend from San Diego ; we exchange letters and phone calls.
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/ida.htm
Jacqueline F. Nelson
I was born in Chicago , Illinois on June 14, 1923 . I attended
Chicago Public Schools and graduated High School in 1941. I lived
in Chicago until the age of 20 when I moved to LaPorte , Indiana
to again live with my parents. I am and always have been single.
My family background: My Mother was from an aristocratic family
on both sides. She did not work outside the home while raising
three children. She died in 1977. My Father was from a working
class family. His father, of whom we were very proud, started his
career as a ship’s carpenter and circumnavigated the globe 3 times
as a young man. My Father served in the Navy during WWI. He
then became an Accountant then a Comptroller for a
manufacturer. He died in 1950. While living in LaPorte, IN. my
Father belonged to the Elks, Rotary Club and Chamber of
Commerce. He was well known and liked in the town. He and my
Mother had many friends and enjoyed a social life.
I had an older sister who served in the Waves during WWII in
Washington DC . She is deceased. My brother, who was younger
than me, is deceased. They left no children.
I felt very patriotic about WWII so decided to try to work or the
war effort. I was successful in obtaining a job at a Government
Ordnance Plant in LaPorte , Indiana living with my parents. I
believe this little town welcomed all of us. I became friends with a woman coworker and we kept in touch
for about 30 years. There was not much social life in this town except eating atone of the nice restaurants
or going to the movies, or visiting friends. Occasionally I boarded the NY Central to attend the theater in
Chicago and returned later that evening.
I corresponded with two childhood men friends during the war. They were both in the military: one Navy;
one Army. Soon I became restless living in a small town . albeit my Parents were happy there, so I
enlisted in the WAC where I spent the remainder of the War. I was stationed in Washington , DC with
Headquarters Squadron, Army Air Corps. I was honorably discharged Dec. 7, 1945 .
My family all came out of the war unscathed and went on with our lives.
I continued my education on the G.I. Bill at the University of California at Santa Barbara , California .
My worthwhile experience because of the war gave me lifelong friends. I experienced meeting many types
of people I had not known before.
Before entering the WAC rationing was very evident in my life especially getting gasoline for the car. The
item which hit home for my family was the shortage of butter and other foods.
The night we were told the war had ended most of my Army buddies went into Washington , DC to
celebrate. My best friend went to Church. For some reason I was morose and stayed in the barracks. When
someone came in announced the Capitol was lit up I dashed outside, stood in the middle of the road with
pounding heart as I looked straight ahead and saw the most beautiful sight in the world. This told me all
was well and we could all go home. We had done a good job.
I believe the war had changed our lives to the extent that we now became a mobile society, moving to
different areas many of us had learned about during the war. I have lived in California most of my life. I
am not living in Windsor , California .
April 17, 2004
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/jacqueline.htm
Jean Dreckman
The beginning of my adventure started at the age of 18 when I
needed to find work. I wasn’t looking for just any kind of work – it
had to be something exciting.
Then I heard there was a training session in Sioux City, IA for
women who wanted to work in a factory preparing weapons for the
war. We were being given the opportunity to fill in for our men since
so many of them had been drafted or enlisted for the war.
I didn’t have to think about it long to realize “this is for me”. My dad
was already working in Sioux City and belonged to a car pool, since
gas was being rationed at 5 gallons a week, so I had a way to get
down to Sioux City. The only problem was getting home. I had a two
hour wait before my dad finished work so quite often I walked the 25
miles home to LeMars. I didn’t have to worry about getting picked up
since there were very few cars and trucks on the highway and
nobody stopped.
Training lasted about 3 months and was during the warm months
but the day we left for the state of Washington I remember having
to wear galoshes and warmer clothes.
Arriving there we were surprised by how mild and beautiful it was.
The government paid our way out by way of train and when we
reached Seattle, there was a bus waiting to take us to Bremerton, WA. Then we got on a ferry which was
to take us to our destination, Poulsbo, WA, an island about 25 miles from Bremerton. At our first stop, 3
other girls and I got off with some sailors, thinking we were at our destination. Boy, was that a mistake, as
lo and behold, we found ourselves at the US Naval Torpedo Station in Keyport, WA .without a pass.
It wasn’t long before we were surrounded by a lot of military personnel asking all sorts of questions and
expecting an explanation about why we were at this base. We were frightened to death. All we had was
our identification for housing and that was it. It seemed like forever to get it all straightened out even
though it was probably only a couple of hours.
The Navy then called for a ferry to take us to our destination at Poulsbo. After all was said and done, and
we were safely at our barracks, we couldn’t help but laugh at the predicament we had gotten ourselves
into.
I stayed friends with 2 of the girls from that point on. We then received our legal identification to work at
Keyport and found ourselves riding the ferry to and from work.
I was surprised when we were first taken to a barrack where we had to stay for about 2 weeks with strict
supervision. We sure learned fast about what K.P. was. Each group had to work at different jobs
throughout the time we were there. Truly, it was a great learning experience.
We were then moved to a completely furnished, two bedroom apartment which housed four girls to each
unit. The first day at work we were really excited. We packed our lunch and got on the ferry that took us
to work. We were all scheduled to work in certain departments. Mine was in the flask department (torpedo
head) where tested torpedoes had to be taken apart and then cleaned, re-assembled and then filled with
air.
I was assigned to Bldg #98. Different times I even helped out at the testing dock to take care of reports
that came back from a trial run and occasionally, I rode the retriever boat in recovering some of the latest
data. I was even asked to help with the bookkeeping in our department. For a short while I also worked in
Bldg.82. We had 2 work shifts – 7AM-3PM and 3PM-11PM, which we alternated.
Usually, when we worked the late shift, and 11o’clock came around, we would go dancing-mostly with
each other because we loved to jitterbug. My plans were to stay in Washington, even after the war was
over, but my mother needed help at home as my dad fell and broke his hip, so I went home.
I was offered a job, working at Wells Dairy in LeMars, a week after I got home. It is still going strong and
is now known as the Ice Cream Capital of the World. I couldn’t believe that I was starting out at .40 an
hour when I was getting $1.87 at Keyport, WA.
I missed my friends and the work I did when I came home but I brought back some wonderful memories,
souvenirs and awards. These are the awards I received: Recognition of Service Certificate, Us Navy
Civilian Service Pin and an “E” Pin for skill, industry and devotion on the production front. I don’t regret
one moment I spent there. Thank you so much for letting me share them with you.
Sincerely,Regine(Jean) Herrmann Dreckman
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/jean.htm
Lois Lettow
Shipyard Memories
I was born in Davenport, Iowa on July 24, 1916. We moved to
Florida when I was 7; then to Oakland, California in April of
1929.
Because I had 2 children, I could not enlist in one of the
services, so decided to work in a defense industry. The Moorre
Dry Dock Company was located on the Oakland estuary, so I
applied there and was accepted for training as a sheet metal
helper in April of 1943. I worked there until September of
1945.
My first day of work I thought would be my last. I was
assigned to the Sheet Metal Shop on the Outfitting Dock. My
job was to use a 3G hydraulically operated grinder which was
used to grind rough edges of the flanges for connecting
lengths of ventilation ducts, which were installed throughout
the ships’ cargo holds. The flanges were low enough to
require bending down. I had never been so tired and achy.
On my second day, one of the men told me that the foreman
did not approve of women working in the shipyard, and that
was his method of trying to discourage us. Needless to say, my aches and pains were forgotten, and after
the third day, the foreman relented and assigned me to other tasks.
Among these were helping to position huge sheets of metal on the folding machine to shape them into
rectangular ducts, and bucking rivets to hold the seam together. Each sheet of metal had one edge folded
over about an inch that overlapped the other sheet edge. Holes were drilled at intervals and then I crawled
inside the duct with a supply of soft rivets, pushed rivets through the holes and then held a bucking bar
against them while the sheet metal man flattened the ends with a hammer. This job is pictured in the
article, “Tin Men,” which I have supplied. It is incredible to look back and realize the miles of ducts that
were formed in this manner. After each section of the duct was completed, the flanges were welded to
each end and then transported to the hull for assembly.
The floor of the shop was made of dirt and became damp during rainy weather. So, one day, the foreman
decided the men working at the benches needed to have platforms on which to stand. He told me to go up
on one of the hulls to the carpenter shop and ask one of them to build some platforms for us. The
carpenter agreed and we soon had them.
After that I was the fair-haired girl and was assigned to the tool crib where I checked out rivets and hand
tools.
Thinking about hulls and outfitting docks reminds me that until I worked in the shipyard, I had assumed
that when ships were launched they sailed away completely built. There I learned that on the ways, only
the hull, deck, and bulkheads are put together. After launching, the hulls are towed to the outfitting docks
for completion.
We worked hard, many 10-hour days and 7-day weeks. One year the only holiday we had was Christmas
Day. Two requirements we didn’t enjoy were the necessity of confining our hair in bandannas at all times,
and wearing hard hats on the docks or hulls. (The hard hats made wonderful rain hats.)
Two nice things happened: One was the opportunity to go on a shakedown cruise. Those were only as far
as the Farallon Islands due to the threat of Japanese submarines. It was the first time I had seen the
Golden Gate Bridge from sea. (The time-keeper came by the shop the next day to inspect my time card to
be sure I hadn’t clocked in to get paid for the day.) The other nice thing was receiving passes for my
family and me to attend a ship’s christening. In one of the pictures taken, my daughter was a blur across
it. I ordered a copy anyway. A few days later, Mr. Moore’s secretary called and asked me to come to his
office. He had been checking the pictures and who had ordered them. He told me I should have a better
picture and gave me passes to the next christening and said the photographer would take another picture.
It is included in my memorabilia.
In the beginning the shipyard was divided between Maritime and Navy. One of the naval ships docked was
the mother ship for submarines. I was permitted to board her and was really impressed with the
amenities, especially the soda fountain.
Eventually the Navy left and Maritime took over the entire yard. I was put in charge of the large tool crib.
It was necessary at times to go aboard the hulls, to both those still on the ways and the outfitting dock.
The odors of hot steel caused by welding, drilling and riveting were overpowering. I was fortunate that I
didn’t need to work in those spaces.
One aspect I remember with gratitude was the day-care center maintained for the children of defense
workers. The only requirement was that the child be toilet trained. The women operating the center were
wonderful. The center was adjacent to a school and when my son was old enough he was taken there to
attend kindergarten.
I went to work in a car pool and they were cooperative enough to drop my children off at the center about
6:30 a.m. Each child had his or her own cot. They were put back to bed until breakfast time. A lasting
legacy was that when my children were in elementary school, teachers of both of them told me how well
adjusted they were. I attribute a large part of that to the fact that they were in the day-care center. I hope
those women will receive the recognition they deserve.
One of the problems with working sometimes 10-hour day, cooking, childcare, housework was that there
were times I couldn’t complete everything. There were no synthetic or wash and wear fabrics. Most clothes
were made of cotton and little girls wore dresses that needed to be dampened and ironed. There were
evenings I simply didn’t have the energy to do any ironing and I apologized one day to the day care
worker about wrinkled clothes. She told me not to be concerned, that my children were always clean and
that was what mattered.
I have seen the beaches where our soldiers landed in France on D-Day. It’s hard to believe they were able
to do it against the defenses there. We were shocked at what they went through and equally shocked by
the dropping of the bomb in Japan . But over it all was the thankfulness that the war was over.
Someone always loses a war, but no one really wins it – not when you consider the loss of thousands of
lives. I won’t live long enough to see it, but I hope my great grand children will find universal peace.
Lois Lettow
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/lois.htm
Loucille Ramsey Long
The Following is my W.W.II Story:
It was on December 7, 1941 . our family and myself heard on
the radio the announcement by President Roosevelt sadly gave
the news of Japan ’s attack on Pearl Harbor . I went outside and
looked up at the stars with a thought of how can I help? I was
18 years old, I was one of the eleven children of my parents
who were farmers in Oklahoma .
In two months I took a bus to California to live with my sister in
Clovis California . I worked in a dime store a short time, then I
heard that the government wanted women to sign up to be
trained to work at ship building and aircraft repairs to replace
men who were being called to services. My friend and I went to
Fresno and signed up for training.
We were sent to Santa Barbara and lived in a big house with
many other women, daily we were taken to a shop and were
taught how to use tools in sheet metal work in ship building. We
enjoyed our stay there as it was on the beach.
About two months later we were told we were to be taken to
Sacramento . We arrived and stayed in old Army barracks. We
had an Army cook and lived there and were bussed to the
Fairgrounds to learn our trade in a big shop. We took lessons on both sheet metals for aircraft and ship
building.
Our instructor, Mr. Lloyd told me and my friend, Maxine Landtrip, he wanted us to go to Mather Field and
to do repairs on airplanes, he was boss of all civilian workers there.
After finishing our training we moved to a rooming house across the street from the Governor’s Mansion.
The attic rooms were cold and the food and bath water when we got in from work. After getting a few
paychecks we rented a furnished apartment.
The guys at Mather pulled many tricks on us such as being sent to a tool room for female and male tools,
but we did fine. At first there were only trainer planes, later came the bombers. We wore coveralls and
steel toed shoes, our hair covered with a big handkerchief. It didn’t take long before our assignments were
out of the shop on the planes it was tightening rivets, also taking dented metal parts off and taking them
to the shop and making a new part, then get it heat treated and put it back on the plane. We worked shift
work all days and hours. All our work was inspected and approved.
One day Maxine and I were in a B-25 and were told to do a job and had anew guy to train, we were up
where the pilot sat, this guy who looked like Lou Costello grabbed the pilot’s relief tube and started talking
in it to a supposed crew, we were doubling up with laughter and he kept on. We never did tell him what
the tube was for!
We noted the crew would look real anxious when they saw girls working on their plane. They looked like
“We don’t know if we will make it to our destination”, sometimes one of the crew would wait and watch
what we were doing, we understood! We riveted in many tight spots with space only for a hand and a
metal bucking block. It took both of us one to run the rivet gun and one to buck the rivets. The wings were
very cold in the winter time.
We worked on B-24’s, B 17’s, and many others. One day we had a meeting of all workers, we were told
that Mather had been chosen due being smaller base in Sacramento to receive, check, and work on the
new bombers, the B-29’s. We were told it was to be a secret and kept that way for the rest of the war with
Japan . If we told anyone other than our people at the base we would be put in jail.
We were very excited one day to see many B-29’s hitting the runways, taxied up and formed a long line.
Each plane was assigned a guard with a high powered rifle. When we got assigned a job on a B-29 the
guard was to check our tool box and see each tool taken in and out of the plane.
One day the guard asked me to go out on a date with him I said “no” I couldn’t, be got real hyper saying
you will or I’ll shoot you pointing the gun at me. I started talking to him to calm him down and we
completed our job, we returned to the shop and I told my boss, he said that was very dangerous that gun
was very powerful. He reported it to the command before long he was put in jail.
One day I was in the shop working and I looked across the hanger I saw a B-29 taxi up to the hanger and
turn around on the side of the plane its name printed as the “Enola Gay.” We talked about the different
names the crews had chosen, one of them was “The Lords Sesspool.” We didn’t know at that time the
mission of the “Enola Gay” until recently I read a book that said it was to drop the atomm bomb on
Nagazacki.
I worked at Mather almost 3 years. I am now 81 years old and as I recall the years at Mather I am glad I
could serve our country.
Loucille Ramsey Long
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/loucille.htm
Lucille E. Sunde
In March of 1944 I decided to try to get a job working on the Victory
ships at Todd Shipyards in Seattle, WA. It was said it was a patriotic
thing to do. Besides, I discovered I was pregnant. My son, Dean,
was four years old and payments to the doctor were still owing.
My husband, Ellsworth (nick-name, “Snicks”) worked at Boeing
Aircraft. Because he had a slight build, he was able to get into small
spaces to inspect. I believe he was called an Expediter. He worked
on B-20s and P-38s. However, he often stopped at the Log Tavern
on the way home from work. Hangovers made for short paychecks.
I found that to work on Victory ships I needed to be a U.S. Citizen. I
was born in British Columbia on Vancouver Island in Nanaimo My
father was born there, as well as my older brother, Marden.
My mother was born in Port Townsend, WA. In those days (1907)
when a woman married a Canadian, she lost her citizenship. But
later she became a naturalized citizen. So I was able to claim what
is called, derivative citizenship under hers. I had to find various
documents such as: my father’s and mother’s birth certificates, their
marriage license and my father’s death certificate (1940). The
procedure seemed odd to me as I had grown up in Seattle and gone
all through school completing High School. I remember the patriotic
feeling as we saluted the flag often.
My older brother, Marden, served in the U.S. Army. He was given his U.S. Citizenship in Paris . He was in
the Battle of the Bulge. The heavy artillery left him with tinitus. Even so , his career was Music. During the
War he was active in the USO to entertain and help with morale. After the War, he returned to N.Y. where
he attended College and also Julliard School of Music. He became a professor at Montclair State University
. He enjoyed teaching the young people and turned his hearing handicap into an asset by getting them to
enunciate clearly.
My older sister, Lois, and younger brother, Neel, were born in Seattle . Neel was a Conscientious Objector,
but served in the Merchant Marine on an oil tanker. There were some scary times when they were chased
by submarines.
After I proudly received my citizenship, I applied for work at the shipyards. There I was a Rosie the
Riveter. Most of the time I didn’t really know what to do. I worked along with the girls and a team leader.
She looked at some plans. Then a big sheet of metal was held up and we attacked with our rivet guns. I
can still hear the sound ringing in my ears. Later some of the holes needed to be reamed out to make
them larger.
My memory of this was what looked like chaos to me. There were many hoses laying all around. When I
had to walk anywhere on a break or to the rest room, I walked gingerly picking my way through. A story
was told about a man who had somehow lost an eye when a powerful air hose burst.
Then there were the smells of the metal as it was being worked on. Mixed with the pungent odor of Puget
Sound , it made me feel nauseated. The proud feeling of being hired to work on the Victory Ships began to
fade to fear on the job and the uncertainty of what I was supposed to do. I was concerned about my little
boy at home with a young baby sitter, as well as my husband’s drinking. Being pregnant was no help
either. I am sorry to say that I only lasted there for about five months. But what a memorable experience
it was!
The crowning glory to all this was that my husband joined the Merchant marine. He was 4-F for the Army.
He was told that he was too light for his height He came home with a new khaki uniform which needed to
be carefully ironed with creases done just right. I hated that. He would go down to the hall to wait to be
called. It was called being on “cadre”. He never once was called, yet there was still that darn ironing to do.
As our friends and neighbors did, we had good and gas coupons. Meat was one of the shortages. A
neighbor raised rabbits, so for the first time, I tasted it. I felt lucky to be able to buy it. One of my friends
knew where there was a small truck garden. For only a few dollars we could get a nice supply of fruit and
vegetables. I remember waiting in line for staples that came in to a store. Sugar , flour, etc. I don’t think
we were too depressed by all the shortages. There was a spirit of, “We’re all in this together”.
When we didn’t have money to buy oil for our oil burner for our small FHA two bedroom one-bath house,
we burned wood in the fireplace. Sometimes when my husband was late getting home, I had to go out in
the rain to the garage to chop wood and bring it in. That was miserable. Another problem was that my
little boy had asthma. The dampness brought on colds and severe asthma attacks.
Once we heard sirens warning us that an attack was imminent. Since we had no basement, we ran next
door to the neighbor who had one. This was when the Japanese bombed Dutch Harbor in Alaska . It was
feared that Seattle would be next.
On V.J. Day all the kids in the neighborhood had a parade riding their bikes and trykes with much laughter
and singing.
Not long after we sold our little house and the furniture to move to California to make a fresh start in a
drier climate for little Dean and hopefully for his Daddy, too.
Lucille E. Sunde
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/lucille.htm
Mary Brancato
My name is Mary Brancato. I’ll be 80 years old come October. Of
course it wasn’t Brancato back then – it was Mary Stockton.
I was born and raised on an Oklahoma wheat farm. I’d only been to
the city once or twice while I was growing up. Wichita , Kansas , was
the big city – and it was the capitol of the world to me. In May 1942
we were six months into the war. I was 17 and had just graduated
Lamont High School . As so many young women did in those
frightening days, I felt compelled to do my part for the war effort. So,
I decided to head for Wichita , home of Beechcraft, Boeing and Cessna
aircraft builders.
My sister Phyllis was already married and living in the city and I went
to stay with her. My Dad drove me to Phyllis’ in his old Model A Ford. I
went to training school for three weeks before starting work at Davis
Westholt – a small airplane parts factory – as a welder making tail
pipes for B29s. My job was to weld two pieces of pipe together before
they went off to be sandblasted and made perfect before being used. I like to think that some of my
tailpipes were on the planes that helped end the war.
That was the most exciting time I’d ever had. It was an exciting time of life really – I was in the big city
with a war going on and earning real money for the first time in my life. With my 40¢ an hour I went crazy
buying clothes – at least that’s what my sister says!
But you were always aware of the war – and there were many sad times when families you knew, and
ones you didn’t, received the telegrams that informed them of loved ones lost in the war.
Still, we tried to have the most fun we could and we lived for the moment, because everybody thought life
was so short. It was everyone’s motto that you could be dead before tomorrow ever came. I guess maybe
that’s why my husband and I got married after just three weeks of dating.
I met him at the parts factory. Of course there weren’t a lot of places to go back then – not like today with
all the shows and things, but you could get into the movies for about a dime and that’s where we’d go on
dates. But most of the time I was too tired to do much and I certainly didn’t go out very often – welding
was a hard job – and the heat from the acetylene torch really tired me out. From 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. I sat in
my uniform, which was a pair of blue twill coveralls and a cotton bandana to tie my hair up in, welding the
two seams of stainless steel pipes together.
I didn’t really wear makeup back then – well maybe just a little lipstick. But I remember that an eyebrow
pencil came in might handy for us girls in a time when you couldn’t buy nylons for love nor money. I could
draw a pretty straight line up the back of each of my legs with that eyebrow pencil and it really did look
like I had on hose for the rare occasions my friends and I went out dancing.
Nylons weren’t the only thing in short supply. We had rationing on gas, sugar, meat and tires, too.
The war changed my life. I probably would have been a stay-at-home housewife, instead, I continued to
work throughout my adult life – including as a working mother of four boys – and was a postal service
worker for 22 years, until my retirement in 1988.
Mary Stockton Brancato
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/mary.htm
Maxine Ludwig
World War II had been going on for awhile when I graduated
from Wooster, Ohio High School, in 1943. Both of my brothers
had already joined the service: one was in the Army and one in
the Navy. They both saw active duty overseas.
My mother was already working for Goodyear Aircraft in Akron
, Ohio , so I naturally joined her and got a job as a riveter,
building Corsair Fighter Planes. The company trained everyone
for specific jobs, and mine was as a riveter. They had to be
smooth as glass. My partner, Ethel, worked on the inside and
bucked all the rivets that held the plane together. We became
good friends but lost touch when the war was over. She had
family in West Virginia .
After the war ended, I went to Business College and brushed
up on my typing, shorthand, and the newest machines. I didn’t
care much for secretarial work and got a job as a receptionist
in a photo shop.
While I was still in school, I wrote to every service man that
sent me a letter. There wasn’t much to do and those guys were so far away and wanted to get news from
back home. I also felt like I was helping their moral.
When the war ended, both of my brothers came home but were changed from what they had been
through. My older brother, Malcolm L. Porter, was in Italy when they hung Mussolini and his girlfriend by
their ankles in the square. He brought pictures home but my mother destroyed them. My brother is now in
a nursing home in Akron , Ohio and is surrounded by family members.
My younger brother, Marion F. Porter, joined the Navy at the age of 17 and was soon on a ship headed for
the Pacific area. He lives in Mechanicsburg , Ohio with his wife.
When the Japanese bombed Hawaii , I was a senior in high school and the thought ran through my mind,
“Oh, God – this war will never end!” Thank goodness, we had a president that had the courage to drop the
bomb!
I met my husband, Richard C. Ludwig, Sr., in Akron , Ohio after the war ended. He believed that he owes
his life to President Truman because they were getting ready to ship out. When he finally was discharged,
he went to work in his family restaurant. We met while I was waiting at a bus stop to go to work. He was
walking to the restaurant and stopped to visit with me. We dated about six months and he asked me to
marry him. Our folks were planning a big wedding but we weren’t too enthused about that, so we packed a
couple of suit cases and took a bus headed to Denver , Colorado , where we wanted to go to Watchmakers
College . The Greyhound bus stopped in Cheyenne , Wyoming and we got off. We went to the Courthouse,
got a marriage license, and a judge married us September, 19, 1946 . Then we got back on the bus for
Denver . Needless to say our parents weren’t too happy but both of our mothers eventually moved to
Denver also, Dick went to Watchmakers College in Denver . After graduating, he decided to go to school
on the G.I Bill and learn Auto Mechanics. That was more to his liking. After working for a caisson company
for several years, he and a partner started his own caisson drilling company. We are still in the same
business and have some of our family working there. We both had our 80 th birthday this year and are still
involved in the business. Lucky us!
Maxine Ludwig
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/maxine.htm
Mourine Merrow
My Story 5/4/04
I was born, Mourine Fern Dyer, in 1916 in
Gaylord , Michigan to Mary and Theodore Dyer.
When I was a baby, my family moved to Hulbert
, Michigan , a small town in the Upper Peninsula
. There, my dad worked as a lumberman and
trapper. In those days, animal trapping was
legal and a way to make a living. My dad was
also a Justice of the Peace in Hulbert where he
had many duties.
My life came to a halt at the age of ten. I felt as
though everything I had known to that point had
been taken from me. My dad died, leaving my
mom with four young children and no way to
support them. We had to leave our home,
friends and wayof life in Northern Michigan . We
soon began a journey to the Southeastern part
of the State where my mom’s sisters lived. The journey was an experience for all of us. My two younger
sisters, Margarite, 5, and Helen, 3, and my older brother, Ted, who was 12, left the only home we knew.
Our trip took us on a train to St. Ignace, a ferry across the straits (train and all!) to Grand Central Station
in Detroit . Once we reached Detroit , we took a street car to Ecorse to my Aunt Hattie’s house. Life took
another turn once we arrived in Ecorse because of the Great Depression. My mom was lucky and got a job
at Ternsteads in Detroit . My sisters and I were placed in a children’s home in East Detroit so my mom
could work. My brother stayed with Aunt Hattie and my mom. We were separated for two years until my
mom remarried and our family was reunited.
I enjoyed school and was able to complete the eighth grade. I enjoyed reading and learning new things so
much and did well in school. When I think back to my childhood, I think that first journey from the Upper
Peninsula must have stirred a life-long yearning for travel and learning in me, even though, at the time, I
didn’t realize it.
On September 7, 1934 , I married Fred Merrow. I was eighteen years old. We looked forward to our future
together and bought land in Dearborn Township . We built our home together. I worked side-by-side with
my husband and enjoyed watching our hard work evolve into our home. Our first child, a son who we
named Phillip, was born in 1935. We were well on our way to our family life together.
In 1935, war broke out in Europe and an event that would change life as we knew it was coming to our
shores. On December 7, 1941 , the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World
War II. Things we took for granted like filling up the gas tank of our car, or buying things at the grocery
store that we wanted, not only what we needed, came to a stop. We had two children now. I had a little
girl, Anne, who was born the previous September, 1940. We learned quickly about rationing, as each
family received War Ration books with food stamps and there were limits placed on gas.
I kept busy with my family and volunteering in any capacity I could as our country pulled together. Many
of our friends were in the service and I wrote letter after letter to help keep their spirits up at this difficult
time. The war was stressful on everyone and we had to each do our part. My husband, Fred, worked as a
crane operator in Ecorse and was an Air Raid Warden in our community. I managed things at home by
planting a victory garden. Trading items with neighbors and saving everything so there was as little waste
as possible.
Fred transferred to the Aircraft Division at Murray Body and decided to get into war work. When Fred
enrolled in the aircraft training school, I decided I would do the same. I wanted “to work with my old man”
and help the war effort. We completed the training together and asked for a production line job. We
worked on the wings of bombers. The Detroit Times was conducting an experiment to see if husbands and
wives could work together like this for the war effort. Fred and I knew we “fit the bill”. My title became
“Rosie the Riveter”, a title I will always be proud to own. I developed life-long friendships as I worked to
help our country and felt a sense of pride in what I accomplished.
I was home when I heard about V-J Day and V-E Day in 1945. I remember feeling happy that it was finally
over as well as a powerful feeling of relief. Our troops would be coming home and life would go on. I didn’t
continue working at Murray body as “Rosie” when the war ended. My work as wife and mother continued
and we would be blessed with another son, Randy, in 1947, giving Fred and I three wonderful children.
When I think about my life and the many journeys I’ve had, the title I held of “Rosie the Riveter” is one of
the best. I appreciate this country more than I can express. Countless sacrifices have been made to
ensure that future generations will live in freedom. After living through World War II, I know I would never
want to see another war like that one. I am proud to remember that I played a small part to help preserve
the freedom we all enjoy today.
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/mourine.htm
Nina May Anderson
I was born Nina May James Farris on May 25, 1918 in
Atlanta, Georgia. I was assisted into this world by an Army
doctor and his nurse, Nina. My father was a captain in the
first world war and we were in Atlanta at an Army base
while he trained new soldiers. My mother names me after
her nurse. When I was 5 months old my mother and my 2
sisters and brother returned to Southern California where I
grew up.
I was 17 years old when right out of high school I
apprenticed in millinery. In those days women did not come
downtown in slacks. They wore hats, silk stockings, and
dress shoes. I took the old red streetcar five days a week to
Seventh and Spring Street and then walked over to
Broadway to the Forrester Building to spend 8 hours sewing
flowers, veils, and ribbons onto hats. When war broke out
suddenly things changed. No salesmen out of New York
would be appearing with new merchandise. No stores were
buying hats. Overalls, uniforms, plus hard toes shoes and
hair nets became popular items.
When I was 22 years old I retired from millinery to apply
for work at Douglas Aircraft. I then became Rosie the
Riveter. I was still living at home and since my mother also
worked at Douglas , we shared the car pool ride with 3 other women Douglas employees. Because of the
limited gasoline supply it was easier to get gas when we car pooled. After a few months in the Riveting
Department, I found myself engaged to William Anderson, the lead man in the Riveting Department, who
on December 19, 1943 became my husband.
A few months later there was an opening in the Experimental Inspection Department. I was able to move
into that office on the swing shift. My supervisor was Roy Russing. At that time Roy was Pacific Coast
Midget Race Car Champion. I was able to meet many people who achieved some important status in life,
but put is all aside to assist in war work.
During the war, life changed. Besides the gasoline, food was also rationed. We were given stamps to buy
food. We also had heavy drapes on the windows and sometimes at night we would get a knock at the door
to tell us a little light was peeking out. Many theaters and restaurants stayed open later for the swing shift
workers.
Also during the war my father, James Farris, was a guard at the shipyard. My brother, Walter Farris, would
soon leave home to be part of the 19 th Engineers and took part in the African Invasion. His letters home
were somewhat frightening, but so very welcomed. He told us about seeing Mussolini hanging from a tree
with his mistress hanging beside him. When the war was over I got my brother back safely.
There was great rejoicing when the war was over. I had lost a cousin on a sinking bombed ship and my
husband lost a nephew in Saipan . There were good things too during the war. I made new friends at
Douglas and I had 51 wonderful years with my William. Three children and 11 grandchildren filled out lives
with joy and it all happened because, for about a year, I became Rosie the Riveter and then another year I
worked in Experimental Inspection. I am eternally grateful for that experience.
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/nina.htm
Rosemary Jarvis Wilkes
World War II Life and Job Experience
Rosemary was born in Hubbard, Texas on April 5, 1921, the only
daughter of Ray Hughes Jarvis and Onie Tanner Jarvis a graduate
of Southwestern University. My father who was a graduate of
Washington and Less University was a grain merchant in Texas. I
was graduated from Hubbard High School in 1938. Our teachers
were truly dedicated to education and highly respected. Then I
was graduated from the University of Texas in 1942 with a
degree in Home Econonics that included courses in food, clothing,
home management and chemistry.
At the time of World War II I was married to Lowell L. Wilkes, Jr.
who was a graduate of the University of Texas and the United
States Military Academy , West Point , New York . We were
married in our hometown of Hubbard , Texas on January 25,
1943 . We later had four children after World War II, our
wonderful and loving sons Lyn, Ray, Bill and daughter Barbara.
During World War II our Country was solidly united in supporting
the war effort of the Country’s Armed Forces and homefront. I
lived with two Dallas , Texas school teachers who made a room
available for me while I worked on a war support project. These
kind ladies not only provided housing but also family like
friendship. Whenever a V-Mail letter arrived from my husband who was serving in the U S Army in Italy
they were excited and anxious to hand me the letter the minute I got home from work. All of this kindness
helped me endure the separation from my husband. Aside from the separation, my work life was affected
by rotating work shifts which changed each week from day shift, to swing shift to night shift. Social life
was quite limited. Once in a while I went out to lunch with friends and went shopping in downtown Dallas .
During the War I kept in touch with my husband, family and friends mostly by mail and occasional phone
calls. Due to gas rationing and other shortages family get-togethers and entertainment were limited.
Fortunately I was blessed with good health during the War. As was the case throughout the United States
our community was solidly in support of the national war effort and local civil defense. Even though there
were many wartime shortages we learned to adjust and accept the realities of the times. Recycling of
grease, rubber and metal was quite common. Some loyal citizens had their ornate iron fences given as
scrap metal to support the war effort. The most memorable experience during the Wartime period was
when the War as over with the Allied victory, the death and destruction stopped and families could be
reunited as in my own personal case I was rejoined with my husband.
My wartime work was with Magnolia Petroleum Company in Dallas , Texas . The company later became a
part of Exxon-Mobil Corporation. I worked in the Podbylniac Laboratory project to take the lead out of
gasoline to reduce the downtime of military portable generators, vehicles and other gasoline powered
equipment. As a Rosie I was chosen for this work because I had studies Chemistry at the University of
Texas . My title was that of Laboratory Technician. I liked the people I worked with and the importance of
the work realted to the war. I really didn’t have any dislikes to what I was doing, even with the rotating
shifts. I was glad to do whatever I could to help shorten the war, especially with my husband overseas in
Italy and my brother in the South Pacific.
Prior to the work in the Magnolia Petroleum Lab in Dallas I was employed for a shorter period of time in a
similar laboratory operated by the United States Army Signal Corps in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. I was
classified as a Civil Service Employee with a professional grade. At that time my Lieutenant husband was
receiving Signal Corps training.
When World War II was over I was gratefully happy. At the end of the War I was still working in Dallas ,
Texas in my wartime job. This was my situation on both V-E and V-J Day. I kept my wartime job until May
of 1946 because the project of taking lead out of gasoline was important to civilian applications as well as
for military uses.
The major change in my life was the two year separation from my husband while he was overseas and the
extended delay in starting our family. After the war we were Blessed to have four healthy children born
into the family making us happy parents.
My own personal experience typical of individuals in all freedom loving countries is that liberty and justice
for all inspires unity, sacrifice and dedication to the common welfare.
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/rosemary.htm
Susan Taylor King
I was born on July 13, 1924 in Upper Tidewater, Virginia in
Northumberland County in the town of Kilmarnock. This was a very
rural area. The chief occupations were farming, fishing and factory
workers who labored in the fishing, crabbing and oyster factories.
This was before migrant workers were heard of in this area. During
the depression, my family lived scarcely on my father’s resources as
a waterman. Just prior to World War II, my family moved to
Baltimore, Maryland so that my father could earn $5.00 a day
working at the shipyard. My family of seven traveled 150 miles by
car to Baltimore, Maryland. All of the children entered schools in
Baltimore. I entered Douglas High School and graduated in 1942.
Six months after graduation World War II began. I graduated from
high school in academic curriculum; therefore, I had no skills for the
world of work. My two friends and I entered riveting school. We
were hired immediately at Eastern Aircraft. Baltimore was a “top of
the South or bottom of the North” city. There were separate signs
on all of the stores downtown. Public schools were segregated. The
riveting school was in a black neighborhood. Transportation was not
segregated and neither was our work at Eastern Aircraft. All workers
ate in the same cafeteria. There seemed to have been a social or
civil relationship between the black and white workers. This was a
period in Baltimore before the neighborhoods were integrated.
After the workday, we returned to our neighborhoods, churches,
movies, clubs and social activities. We had the U. S. O. where the soldiers came to dance and spend an
evening in Baltimore . I became a pen pal to a few service men. After 10 months of work at Eastern
Aircraft, I decided to enter college. I felt strongly that there must be a way to help my community. I
entered college and later received my Bachelor of Science and my Masters Degrees from Morgan state
University in Baltimore , Maryland . My career continued after riveting and I worked in the Baltimore City
Public School System as a science teacher and a guidance counselor. I am the widow of the late Dr. John
Wesley King who was a professor at Morgan State University . I am the mother of two daughters, one is
the founder of the Sankofa Dance Theater and the other is a teacher. I am also the grandmother of seven
and the great-grandmother of eight. I am essentially a “peace” person. I consider all wars inhumane. We
have a superior brain and technology and humanity can best be served with peace. The loss of lives is
intolerable. Unfortunately, I have lost contact with the people at Eastern Aircraft. The plant is now owned
by General Motors and I have not been back to visit since I left there many years ago. I love to tell my
story to young people at all times.
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/susan_k.htm
Susan E. Page
Susie the Welder
I was born on February 21rst, 1927 in San Francisco, the second
child of Danish immigrants, Anna K. (known as Tina) Jensen Therp
and Thorvald J. Therp.
My father arrived at Ellis Island in 1924 and worked at various jobs,
usually in dairies and creameries to save enough money to send for
my mother and brother, Kay. He worked his way to the west coast
and his family sailed into San Francisco Bay to meet him.
Our family moved to Hayward and then to San Mateo . I was
attending San Mateo High School when the war broke out. I was 14
years old. I had come down the stairs that morning and I saw my
mother, father & brother huddled around the radio in the kitchen. I
could hear the familiar voice of our President, Franklin D. Roosevelt
saying that the Japanese had just attacked Pearl Harbor . Where
was Pearl Harbor , I wondered? And why were they attacking us?
My brother was saying quietly that he would enlist and hopefully be
accepted as a pilot. I was full of questions, but not yet realizing
what this would mean to our little family and our nation. Right
away most of his friends and mine (as we were very close and his
friends were my friends, too) began talking about the war and the
service, knowing that they would be called to serve our country.
They did not want to wait for that call and a group of them agreed to sign up as soon as possible. Events
happened so fast after that – they were all leaving their homes and families, including my dear brother.
They were sent to different boot camps all over the country. My brother was crushed that his eyesight
prevented him from becoming a pilot. Undaunted, he trained to be a radioman in the Navy. There was
nothing wrong with his hearing!
We heard from him often. We waited for those letters and every time we received one, we knew he was
safe again. He wrote wonderful letters! Full of observations and anecdotes and he was as cheerful as
possible so as not to worry us unnecessarily. I still have many of his letters that I have saved all these
years.
It seemed that our lives had changed overnight. My father was trying to get into the service even though
he was in his forties. I was losing interest in school. It somehow didn’t feel as important is it once had. I
begged my father to give his release for me to leave school. He was finally convinced by my promise to
find a job right away. Dad persevered in his efforts to join up until, at last, he was accepted into the Navy,
and was soon gone. My mother was working long hours and our house felt so empty. I began working as a
waitress in a creamery. But I knew this was not what I wanted to do. I was just marking time. One night
my friend Bonnie called me and said she had heard that Western Pipe and Steel in South San Francisco
was hiring and she was going there in the morning. I said I wanted to go with her and apply for a job
there also. We met the next morning to figure out how to get there. Neither of us had a car, so we decided
to hitch hike. We were both hired that very day. Oh my, we really lied about our ages! We put down that
we were 18 years old, but I was not quite 17 yet! No one raised an eyebrow! My friend was sent to class
to learn how to become a “Burner”. I went to welding classes, held right across the street from the
shipyards. Completing the required two-week classes, I became a “tacker” for a shipfitter named
“Pucinelli”. His English was not perfect, but we worked well together and his sense of humor helped the
long days pass quickly. After a coupe of months working with Pucinelli, I became a journeyman welder.
That involved more complicated and challenging work, but I loved it. I felt like I was finally doing
something that would bring my brother and others home again. I went to work every day with enthusiasm
and dedication. The only real work-related issue that I recall from that time, were the arc, or flash burns
that would affect my eyes. It was very painful. It was something that could not be avoided. When I would
lift my welding hood and someone next to me struck their rod to start a weld on the ship, my eyes would
be burned. The burn was not noticeable immediately. It would take several hours before symptoms began.
I could be out with friends and feel my eyes start to burn, and know I had to get home quickly. Soon the
pain would increase and I would not be able to see. Once I was on a date and it started. I told the young
sailor I had to get home because soon I would not be able to see. That did not go over well because he
thought I just didn’t like him and he walked off and left me. I got as far as the bus depot and then could
not see. For some reason a taxi driver noticed me in my distress and drove me home and walked me to
my door. I was totally blind by then. My mother opened the door and thanked the driver. I think of his
kindness to a stranger now and I am so grateful. My mother quickly put ice bags on my eyes. That helped
reduce the pain and swelling a somewhat, but there was really not much we could do to alleviate the
condition. It would take many hours before it would slowly recede. I was usually OK in the morning and
could go back to work, but it’s something I’ll always remember.
During that time, I worked on a ship called “The Cardinal” from start to finish. I was there when the
champagne bottle broke across its bow and it entered the water. I was told that most of these ships were “
Liberty ” ships and surrounded the battle ships for protection. I have often wondered what happened to
that ship and if it survived the war. When I drive through Richmond and see the ships there I wonder if
“The Cardinal” is among them.
After a year or so things began to slow down at the shipyard. There was just not enough work to keep me
busy and I left Western Pipe and Steel. I got a job doing assembly work for a company that had defense
contracts. The word was going around that the war would soon be over. It was at this time I met the
young man who I would marry and have two daughters with.
His name was Ennis Harold Page, and everyone called him “Hal”. He was stationed in the Oakland hospital
waiting for his discharge. He had been in the battles of Saipan and Tinian and had sustained injuries, but
was almost fully recovered. He had been working on the airstrip on Tinian where later, the plane carrying
the atom bomb would take off. He was a welder also and was injured when a bomb hit the area, while
bringing food over to his friend on guard duty. He was first sent to Hawaii for care and then to Oakland .
The same friend who told me about the Western Pipe Steel job brought him over to our house for a blind
date. She and I got to talking and forgot all about him still in the car. Finally there was a knock on the
door and there he was. We did not go out that night as I was tired and promised my mother I would stay
home. They left, and I rather regretted my promise to my mother. Two weeks later there was another
knock on the door and he was back. Poor man – he had gone up and down so many streets looking for our
house that he finally decided that if this was not he right one he would give up! We did go out that night
and I never went out with anyone else again.
The war ended as my brother’s ship was on its way to Japan . It was a glorious day for all! I was with my
sweetheart and we would soon have my brother home again.
This is my story of the war years. Time has passed and I lost my husband in 1981. My brother has died
and I sometimes read his letters and remember those days and his face. I now live in Hawaii where the
war began, and a few years ago I went to Pearl Harbor with my oldest daughter. On the Arizona tears
came to my eyes as I thought of all those beautiful lives that were gone, but hopefully never forgotten.
The battleship “ Missouri ” or “The Mighty Mo” was also in the harbor and we could still feel the power and
the glory in that fine old ship. It was a special day for both of us.
All that I have written is as clear to me today as it was on that fateful day of the attack on Pearl Harbor . I
am now the only living one of my family left from that time. I wanted to tell my daughters how it was for
me back then, and to help them to know that they “Can Do” anything they put their minds, hearts and
bodies to!
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/susan_p.htm
Tessie Hickam Wilson
MEMORIAL TO “ROSIE THE RIVETER”
In regard to the memorial for “Rosie the Riveter” I, Tessie Hickam Wilson,
was part of the work force that helped in winning/ the World War II.
I was born in Seymour , Texas , Baylor County , on September 5, 1917 .
My father Oliver Hickam worked for the railroad, and when I was 3 months
old, we were transferred to Chickasha , Oklahoma . After awhile he
decided to take up farming.
My mother, Mary Ella Hickam was a house wife. She never worked outside
the home. After awhile, we moved back to Texas near IOWA Park and
spent a year there on a farm.
Then we moved to Portales , New Mexico . We lived on a farm and I
graduated from high school in 1936. I enrolled in Eastern New Mexico
College . During the first year, I met Charles R. Wilson and we married.
Jobs were hard to come by so in 1941 we moved to Albuquerque , New
Mexico . Charles worked at Maisel’s Indian Trading Post as an
accountant. I worked at Creamland Dairies. I did several jobs there. In the
laboratory I decorated ice cream cakes. I folded cartons of ice cream.
We were in a theater when war was declared. We answered ads for
aircraft workers in San Diego , California . In 1942 we moved to San Diego and were employed
immediately in Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation. I went to training to learn how to operate
machinery and how to rivet, etcetera. My first assignment was in Assembly and the part I assembled went
into the B-24. Later it changed to Convair.
I was transferred to the Brake Department where I was a power brake operator. I stayed in there until the
end of the war. The parts I formed went on the B-24.
We women who were working during the war opened the door for women working – and we proved we
could do it!
It was a hard time, but we felt like we were doing our part, and all the people we knew were doing their
part. We had rationing. Sugar, coffee, gasoline and meat were some of the items that were hard to come
by. We had ration books every so often, and we had to use them sparingly. We bought savings bonds to
help in the War Effort.
We also had radios and record players, and when we could afford it, we went to the movies. And even
though there were hard times, we did what we could in the War Effort, and I will always be glad I was part
of it.
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/tessie.htm