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amandabeech

(9,893 posts)
29. My Mom made bullets and land mines in a factory in Jackson, MI.
Sun Aug 3, 2014, 11:19 PM
Aug 2014

Last edited Sun Aug 3, 2014, 11:50 PM - Edit history (1)

She started the war as a teacher in a rural one-room school house, but quit to do her part in the factory. The factory was integrated, and it was the first time that my Mom had come into contact with blacks. She grew up in a small farming community and there were no blacks in her neighborhood or in her school system, and she just didn't know much about Black America. When she has talked about the war years, she has always said that the Black women that she worked with were just as bright and capable as she and the other white women. She became very friendly with one of the black women who talked to her a lot about what it was like being a black woman. Being a white woman then was difficult enough, but it was clear to my Mom that being a black woman was much more difficult. My Mom went back to teaching in a country school after the war but only for a year. She didn't like going back to a rural area again, and soon made her way back to the plant, which was making locks for cars, and was rehired, unlike most other women. One day, she was walking along the street, and came upon her black friend. She asked her friend what she where she was working. Her friend acted very uncomfortable, and said that she was working as a domestic, and it was hard for my Mom to realize why she herself was in the factory, and her friend, who was an excellent worker, was not. Mom never saw her freind again.

Mom went back to teaching after another year or so--she decided that factory work was too boring-- before she met my Dad, who who had been stationed on an escort carrier patrolling the southern US coastline and the Caribbean for German subs. He finished the war doing what he was trained to do, which was fixing the exteriors and frames of beat-up planes at Naval Air Stations up and down the East Coast. Dad passed years ago, but Mom is 92 and still drives and lives independently.

Her middle sister, Millie, was a high school student in Fremont, Michigan, home of Gerber Baby Food. During the war, there were few babies born, and Gerber changed all but one of its lines from canning baby food to canning all kinds of food, from apples to beef, for the war effort. When school let out, Aunt Millie and many of her classmates walked to the Gerber plant where they did a full shift. They then did their homework, got some sleep, and went back to school. The baby food line was staffed by volunteer German POWs, who lived in a camp outside town, and were paid a bit to work in what was obviously a non-military job. Aunt Millie said that the Germans were very young, and she and the other girls would smile and wave at them, which the young Germans appreciated very much. She said that it was hard to imagine that they had been shooting at our young men. It was a very awkward situation. WWII was a just war, but many regular people died, along with the baddies.

Aunt Millie became an Air Force nurse, and was stationed in Guam during the Korean War, where she met her husband, who was a pilot. Like my Dad, she and her husband have passed, but like Dad, are with me in my memories.

I originally wrote this post without mentioning my Mom's black friend, but I decided that I wanted to honor her, too, since my Mom thought so highly of her.

Go Mom and Aunt Millie! And go Mom's Friend and all her friends, too!

Thank you shenmue Aug 2014 #1
Proud ot be an American woman. I doubt the women supporting the Axis are entitled to as much pride. Nuclear Unicorn Aug 2014 #2
I doubt that many women in Axis countries were doing tasks like the ones in these photos. Brigid Aug 2014 #14
I would've thought that killing millions of innocent people was Germany's biggest mistake Yavin4 Aug 2014 #38
Not just American women cwydro Aug 2014 #34
Great photos. brer cat Aug 2014 #3
My father's sisters worked making wings for planes, machining and fitting them together, and making freshwest Aug 2014 #4
Great story, thanks. mountain grammy Aug 2014 #16
Wow! 93 and still working at Boeing! senseandsensibility Aug 2014 #24
My mother was a Rosie the riveter. Mr.Bill Aug 2014 #5
My aunt worked on codes. JDPriestly Aug 2014 #6
My mom wasn't a "Rosie the Rivetet",... MarianJack Aug 2014 #7
Thank you! My late mom worked in a plant for 4 years. catbyte Aug 2014 #8
My mom worked in a factory bottling DDT Hoppy Aug 2014 #9
It was an important job... awoke_in_2003 Aug 2014 #32
My mom enlisted in the US Army in 1943, honorably discharged in 1946. Scuba Aug 2014 #10
Oh, I just love these wartime romance stories...how wonderful... CTyankee Aug 2014 #22
MY Mom, not a Rosie Riverter, but was a SPAR, US Coast Guard Women's Reserve. Fla Dem Aug 2014 #11
My mom worked on the Enola Gay when it was being built at the Martin Bomber plant Omaha Steve Aug 2014 #12
Wow, just wow. amandabeech Aug 2014 #30
I'm very proud of Mom Omaha Steve Aug 2014 #36
Thank you for posting that great story about all the Purple Hearts made for amandabeech Aug 2014 #37
My mom and her sister were Maisie the map maker. Kablooie Aug 2014 #13
good lord! She is a hero! CTyankee Aug 2014 #15
It was quite a surprise when I found out. Kablooie Aug 2014 #18
thank you. what an important thing to know. Your mother was wonderful... CTyankee Aug 2014 #19
In 1942, my Mom was single and 30 and joined the Marines! mountain grammy Aug 2014 #17
I love the stories... one_voice Aug 2014 #20
Thanks madokie Aug 2014 #21
I was told my Mom was a Rosie too HockeyMom Aug 2014 #23
But sadly it's also a reminder of the discrimination the military had against women in combat roles RB TexLa Aug 2014 #25
Consider the times customerserviceguy Aug 2014 #27
i would never drink with you. nt. dionysus Aug 2014 #28
k&r Liberal_in_LA Aug 2014 #26
My Mom made bullets and land mines in a factory in Jackson, MI. amandabeech Aug 2014 #29
both of my grandmothers worked in plants during the war... awoke_in_2003 Aug 2014 #31
Oh, and k&r. nt awoke_in_2003 Aug 2014 #33
From then to now... trumad Aug 2014 #35
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