An Army Air Corps Spouse And Plane Spotter: The Story Of An American Rosie The Riveter

During World War II, over six million American women took paid employment in defense industries, while another estimated ten million women volunteered to support the war effort. They worked in factories, shipyards, munitions plans, mills, on farms, and on railroads. They were welders, cutters, riveters, laborers, secretaries, drivers, nurses, pilots, and plane spotters, as well as USO, Red Cross, and Canteen volunteers. Many women were working for the first time, often doing jobs that had been typically reserved for men. After the war, many returned home, unceremoniously released from their jobs, their contributions being forgotten for generations. Over time, however, their wartime service began to change perceptions of the type of work that women could do. They did their bit for their country and the war effort, and without them the Arsenal of Democracy would have suffered. Ellen Hunton was born in August 1923 on her family farm in Newark, South Dakota, where the family raised cattle and pigs. In 1927, they moved to Oregon. Her parents both came from Denmark, her father in 1910 and her mother in 1912. America was the land of promise, but South Dakota was very primitive. In Oregon, they raised and sold turkeys and hatching eggs. She went through 8th grade in Harrisburg grade school and then took room and board in town to go to high school. She graduated in May 1941 and was married in November. Her husband was a high climber who cut the tops of trees, and she remembers borrowing his car. They used to enjoy roller skating. Her husband was drafted in February 1942. She remembers when he boarded the bus in Ft. Lewis and he went first to Texas and then to Boise, Idaho. Her husband served in the Army Air Corps as ground crew and departed from Ft. Dix, New Jersey, in September 1942. After spending 42 days on the water, he arrived in North Africa. He later served in Sicily, Italy, and India, where he worked salvaging downed aircraft. He came home in April 1945, and after a stop in Santa Ana, California, he was stationed at Colorado Springs, where Ellen took a job working for the War Department as a typist. She remembers the day Pearl Harbor was attacked and listening to the news on a battery-operated radio. After her husband was drafted, she lived with her parents, and eventually military spouses were paid $50 stipend per month. She had a job in a bank and volunteered as a plane spotter from 8pm to midnight. She remembers when a Japanese bomb killed two children in 1943. For protection, the military patrolled railroad bridges. She communicated with her husband by mail and wrote him almost daily. She recalls he came home the day Roosevelt died. She received a telegram from Chicago stating he would be home in five days. In September 1945, he was discharged. She remembers when the atomic bombs were dropped, and dancing in the streets when the war ended. After the war, they had a farm where they raised turkeys and grass seed (her county in Oregon is the grass seed capital of the world). About that time, she states, “We were united in ending the war,” and “we all did what we had to do.” She loves the good memories and tolerates the bad memories. We are grateful that Dr. Yvonne Fasold helped us connect with several “Rosies” in Oregon.