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Peggy to the Defense
As
Peggy walked to work on Monday morning she had the eerie sensation that she was
missing important information. Everyone seemed so subdued.
The manager of Kress Department Store came and quietly let all the
counter girls in. He did not turn on the lights. He did not turn the open sign,
instead he went straight back and turned on one of the radios. After several
minutes the President of the United States finally began his address: Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives: Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And, while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack. It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu. Yesterday
the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. Japan has therefore undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation. As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense, that always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us. Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God. I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire. Franklin D. Roosevelt - December 8, 1941
Peggy stood there with her mouth hanging open in shock. The counter girls
all looked one to another. Our boys were going overseas. Our boys were going to
war.
“Go on home and report back to work tomorrow.” the manager said.
Peggy trudged home and told her mother everything the President had said
in his speech.
Peggy returned to work the next morning with her eye on the accounting
job. It would mean a salary increase from $18 per week to $30 per week. She had
to get that job when it became available. Peggy knew she wouldn’t have to hear
she had been passed over again for a man who needed to support his family. Women
would be replacing men everywhere.
Men from the defense department went to different stores trying to
recruit women into their line of work. Peggy was afraid of them. Her mother told
her to stay away from men. They would try to kidnap her and sell her to Mexico
as a slave. She was terrified of men. The
men just kept coming back. One man in particular came back almost every day. He
would sit at the lunch counter and watch the girls work; it made Peggy a little
nervous. Every few days he would offer her a job, but Peggy was still waiting
for the accounting job.
One day he said to her “Well, you know you’re making $18 a week at
Kress’. At a defense plant you’ll make over $60 a week just to start, and
you’ll be helping your country.”
When he told her how much money she would be making, Peggy was excited.
The defense department would pay more than the accounting job. The money was
important for her and her mother.
Soon after that Peggy began working for Northrop
Aviation. She spent a week in training. They taught her to drill, rivet, and
ream out a hole. Peggy had never touched a tool. Everything was new and heavy.
The first day on the job they told all of the girls to wear pants the
next day. Peggy did not own a pair of pants; most girls didn’t.
Peggy had to go out that evening and buy a pair of pants. That next day
was the first time she had ever worn pants or any store bought clothing; it was
a little strange.
The men passed out hairnets and bandannas for the girls to wrap their
hair up. This was necessary so that hair would not get caught in the machinery
or tools. But the girls didn’t like it. Most girls wore their hair long and
curled it up. It took a long time to do their hair, and it had to last several
days. The bandannas smashed the hairstyle flat and ruined it for after work. It
was the one thing the girls always complained about.
The women didn’t chit-chat a lot because the work was noisy and they
worked long, hard hours. The work
they were doing was urgent. It was important to our boys overseas.
After the week of training Peggy began working on the line on different
sections of the plane. She started on the belly of the P-61 Black Widow, working
on two person teams. The one on the
outside “shot the rivet,” and the one on the inside “bucked the back” of
the rivet. Periodically the girls traded places because the gun that shot the
rivet was heavy for a woman and required that she drag all the air hoses around
as she went back and forth. The bucker had a small stool inside the plane to sit
on. Bucking could be difficult if
you were tall or big because it required sitting on a small stool in a very
cramped space. Both riveting and
bucking were very exacting work. The rivets had to be perfectly flat against the
metal of the plane or air would come in, this would increase air friction when
the plane was flying. Peggy was
very good at her job, she was a perfectionist. Peggy’s work was rarely tagged
for correction. Peggy preferred to buck because she was small and it was easy
for her to fit into the space. Her partner, Lena, was a tall, big girl, so she
preferred to rivet. That made Peggy and Lena a good team.
One day Peggy noticed that her boss was watching her a lot. He was
starting to make her nervous. “Had she done something wrong? Would she lose her job? She knew the pay
was too good to be true!” Finally he caught her alone.
“Peggy, we would like you to go to the radio station tomorrow afternoon
and do a special radio show,” her boss said.
“Oh, no! I’m way to shy. I wouldn’t know what to say. I would
embarrass myself and you.” Peggy replied. Her boss chuckled, “It’s not
that scary, Peggy. You just read the script. Tell folks what it’s like to work
for your country.”
And that’s how Peggy found herself standing in front of a microphone,
her boss right beside her, answering questions.
“Yes! I like the work. My bosses are very good to me. They are so
patient with all the girls.”
“The pay is good, better than I could make anywhere else.”
“It feels so good to serve my country and our boys overseas. What we
are doing is really important to the war effort.”
And so her radio show went… without a hitch.
Peggy called in sick for work. It was the first time she had missed a day
of work in the year and a half she had worked at Northup,
but Lena told her about this job and the pay and hours were better. When they
discovered she had not used a single sick-day and the work she had been doing,
Peggy was immediately hired. She was placed on the assembly line making gas
cans.
Peggy first job was to stack the gas cans as they came off the end of the
conveyer belt. Everything was
coming at her so fast. She couldn’t keep up.
Gas cans were clanging to the ground. With every bang Peggy got further
and further behind. And the tears came faster and faster- she thought she would
be fired for sure. Her supervisor Max came around the corner and saw her crying
and trying to keep up. He put both
hands on her shoulder and bent way down like he was talking to one of his own
children.
“Peggy don’t worry about those cans. Just let them fall and do as
many as you can. When the line stops, catch up on the ones that have fallen. You
will get the hang of it in no time.” Then
he patted her arms and walked away. Peggy sucked up another sob and went back to
work. Max was right, in just a few
days Peggy had no trouble keeping up and often had to wait for the next can to
come down the line.
During lunch the women would often help each other paint a line down the
back of their leg to make it look like they were wearing nylons. Of course, no
one was. Nylon was rationed along with food and so nylon stockings were very
expensive. So the girls just kept painting the line up the back of their leg to
make it look like they had on nylons. No
one knew better then these women that every stitch of nylon was need for the
parachutes stowed in their planes. And none were more willing to sacrifice their
nylons- just not the look of nylons. Lucille was the best at it; she made a nice
thin steady line. The girls ate their lunch and waited turns to have their
nylons drawn on.
Peggy , Lucille and Lena had big plans one night.
They were meeting Peggy’s brother Moe at the Bond Rally. Each of the
women had several dimes to purchase a Bond or two. Moe was bringing his two shipmates, Gene and Andy, with him.
Moe was just sure Peggy would like Gene. Peggy was not so sure, but she
trusted her brother.
The Bond Rally was terrific fun. Patriotism zinged through the air. Peggy
had to admit her brother was right; she did like Gene. He was adorable in his
sailor’s uniform. It looked as if Andy and Lena were hitting it off, too.
Moe and Lucille were as silly as ever.
They all decided to cut out of the Bond Rally and go back to Peggy’s.
Her mother made them popcorn while they set up the card game. They laughed and
joked and ate while their mother watched from her chair and sewed.
Whirrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeee
The air raid siren screeched on and on. The men jumped from their seats
and began shutting all the blinds and turning out the lights as they went. The
Blackout was under way. How long it would last was anyone’s guess. Was it a drill? Were they doomed to another boring night, sitting in the
dark on the floor or was this the real deal? Had the Japanese attacked
California? Were they safe? Only time would tell. Of course, if you had to sit
on the floor in the dark it was nice to do so with Gene.
As it turned out it was only a drill, and one that was much too short to
Peggy’s thinking. Holding Gene’s hand in the dark had been wonderful and
made her feel safe. She would worry about him and her brother when they shipped
out in a week.
Peggy and Gene spent every free moment together. Gene was shipping out
Sunday morning. By Wednesday,
neither could bare the thought. Gene got down on his knees and begged Peggy to
marry him. So Thursday morning Peggy went to work, came home early and changed
and met Gene on the courthouse lawn. They were married with only Moe and Lena as
witnesses. On Friday morning Peggy was back at work, bucker in hand, stool
underneath her, and Lena at the rivet gun. By Saturday night Gene and Moe had
reported for duty on board their ship. Now the work they did had a beloved face
to go with it, and Peggy would work twice as hard for their Defense.
After almost 60 years of defense work, Peggy retired in 1999 at the age
of 79. |
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