Cornhusker Ordnance Plant, near Grand Island, NE.
Courtesy Nebraska State Historical Society.
"Of course, there was the big ordnance (bombs and ammunition) plant in Grand Island and the one in Hastings . . . . I'll never forget that because they had a lot of people working there. . . . There was something about the powder they worked in out there that turned their skin kind of yellowish-green, and their hair a kind of yellowish-green. . . . Some of the weirdest looking colored hairdos would come in there."
—Fred Merriman
Loup City Chief Clerk
Sherman County Rationing Office
Because Nebraska was so far away from the coasts (and the enemies), the U.S. government found it a reasonably safe place to build defense factories. One of those factories, the Cornhusker Ordnance Plant, just outside of Grand Island, not only helped the war effort, but created jobs for Nebraskans, especially women. This video describes how the plant became, in effect, a little town.
Cornhusker Ordnance Plant
Workers on assembly lines in the Cornhusker Ordnance
Plant create shells and bombs for the war effort. Courtesy NET Television's Statewide.
Soldiers crowd train door to greet volunteers at the North Platte Canteen. Courtesy Union Pacific Railroad Archives.
Only men were drafted during World War II. Although many women served in the military, if a U.S. female wanted to pitch in for the war effort, often she had to do it back home. This video shows how several North Platte women found a creative way to help the troops with the Start of the North Platte Canteen.
Start of the North Platte Canteen
Located in the North Platte train depot, the North Platte Canteen provided food, magazines, and entertainment to over 3,000 soldiers every day of the war. Even though the war kept Mothers and Sons far apart, this video illustrates how the Canteen provided a way for strangers to feel at home, if just during a ten-minute train stop.
The War: Nebraska Stories
—Fred Merriman
