The women of World War II reflect on their homefront service, inspiring the next generation

They climbed up towers, scouting out the skyline for enemy planes on both coasts of the United States. They assembled bombers, drilled airplane wings together and welded in docks.

When necessary, they quickly changed out of their school dresses after class, putting on coveralls to start swing shifts in factories and shipyards.  They were the working women of World War II, a hardy breed of homefront soldiers whose contribution freed up more men for military service in the European and South Pacific theaters. When the war ended, most quietly left their jobs and returned to raising families.

Some eight decades later, the legacy of service lives on. At Willamette Oaks, an independent living community in Eugene, a group of about 60 residents, friends and family gathered Saturday, March 21, for a tribute. The event honored the sacrifices and example of this generation of women, who are called “Rosies” in a throwback to the “Rosie the Riveter” figure that came to represent all women of that generation.

The Rosies that remain are centenarians – or well into their 90s. At Willamette Oaks, two residents are Rosies: 102-year-old Ellen Hunton and 99-year-old Doreen Kilen, who turns 100 in April. They joined the gathering, sharing their memories of wartime service. 

Kilen, who grew up in Monmouth, spent about a year working with her father at Monarch Forge & Machine Works in Portland. During that time, she attended the city’s Lincoln High School by day, starting a seven-hour swing shift at 4 p.m., where she used a lathe to make shafts for vessels that carried cargo, called “Liberty ships.”

“They had to be just perfect to fit into the places that they were used in the Liberty ships,” Kilen said in an interview with Lookout Eugene-Springfield. 

She appears in a black-and-white photo of workers with her father, dated Sept. 21, 1943, when she was a 17-year-old high school senior. She returned to Monmouth and eventually Eugene after the war. 

Some women of that era faced discrimination in the workplace from their male colleagues. Kilen did not.

“They were very respectful and acted like I was a friend,” Kilen said, adding her father’s presence may have helped. “I didn’t get the remarks that some of the ladies had.”

Now, in the sunset of their lives, the women are immortalized by the now-iconic poster that J. Howard Miller created during the war for Westinghouse Electric, a company that made tanks instead of appliances. 

Wearing a red bandana with white polka dots and a blue work shirt, the poster’s figure flexes her arm, declaring: “We Can Do It!” A 1942 song about the patriotism of a factory worker named “Rosie” also lent itself to the “Rosie the Riveter” namesake that represents all women who served in different ways during the war. 

Their contribution is measured beyond the rivets they drilled, the machinery they welded and the mechanical trades they learned on the job. In the past eight decades, their contribution has become a defining cultural moment that helped shape the arc of women’s history in the United States. 

‘That was our duty’

And for some Rosies, the work was volunteer service. Hunton, for example, volunteered from 8 p.m. to midnight on evenings, listening and watching for suspected enemy planes from a tower east of Harrisburg. 

If they saw an airplane that raised concerns, they reported it to authorities. They enjoyed the work.

“That was our duty, but we just didn’t feel like it was a duty,” Hunton told the group. “And then people in Eugene could identify further.”

Yvonne Fasold of Eugene, past president of the national American Rosie the Riveter Association, presented Hunton with a Congressional gold medal, a civilian honor for women who served during the war. Congress has approved it for all Rosies. 

“All the Rosies have told me that they did their very best work that they could to support the troops they wanted to end the war and bring their loved ones home,” Fasold said in opening remarks. 

Two other Lane County Rosies attended the event: Dolly Marshall, 97, of Springfield, and Dorothy Key, 99, of Goshen. Fasold asked them to give introductions to the group. Each has a different story. 

Key traveled from Arkansas to Los Angeles during the war, where she worked making aircraft parts. 

Marshall served as a plane spotter in New Jersey, keeping a watch for aircraft that may threaten the nearby Philadelphia Naval Yard. 

“We felt that we were doing pretty important work, but we really never thought anything about it afterward,” Marshall said. 

It is difficult to pinpoint a precise number of women who served. In general, about 6 million more women joined the workforce. Others were already working and had shifted jobs. Countless others, like Hunton, volunteered without pay. Whatever the job, they are considered part of the group.

Unlike the military, there is no centralized database of people who served, making a precise number somewhat elusive. The American Rosie the Riveter Association is working to keep those memories alive – and honor those who still remain. 

“If you know anybody between the ages of 95 and 105, you know they did something for the war,” Fasold said. 

She encourages people to reach out with recommendations of others so they can learn their story and honor them. 

The McKenzie chapter of the American Rosie the Riveter Association meets regularly in Lane County. For more details, contact Fasold at 541-953-0394.