By Linda Shomo
The Rosie the Riveters of WWII are an inspiration to all generations for their courage and commitment and for blazing the trail that changed the way women were viewed in the workforce. The "Rosie the Riveter" movement is credited with helping push the number of women working up to 20,000,000 in four years. My mother, Leona Phares, was one of these great women who left their homes in the AFNHA region to work in factories in larger cities.
These amazing women emerged from the kitchen and built the equipment needed to win WWII. My mother was a riveter on B29 bombers and, also, wired all types of bombers at the Goodyear Aircraft plant in Akron, Ohio. She and the other Rosie the Riveters worked in unfavorable conditions and did gruesome work with little-to-no training as a part of their patriotic duty.
These ladies worked to conserve daily products to help the war efforts. They skimmed the cream off the milk and made butter, cottage cheese etc. They sewed their own clothing. They wore their dresses a little shorter to conserve on cloth, Rosies wore the famous red lipstick in protest to Hitler, because he hated red lipstick. They wore red polka-dotted bandannas on their head to keep sweat and hair off their face as well as keeping their hair from getting caught in the machinery they were working on. Their bandannas were a safety item that was feminine looking and attractive.
My mother became a Rosie the Riveter to help support the war effort and help bring my father and all the other soldiers home. As she riveted a plane, she always reminded all the Rosies working with her about the importance of making sure the metal was smooth and riveted properly– if it wasn't the planes could crash.
The day before my mother passed away, she asked me to never let her or the other Rosie the Riveters be forgotten. She was a great lady and entrepreneur. She truly believed in the motto “YOU CAN DO IT!” She lived by that motto until the day she died. I know my mother and the other Rosies would be honored to have their history remembered to educate the public on all the different jobs they did to help the Home Front win the war through our darkest times of WWII. These ladies were the Great Ones, but are becoming the Forgotten Ones.
