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"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 ... Read more
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"Ironically, at home, the soldier’s mothers, wives, and daughters were being told, ‘Go home to Mexico, where you came from.’"One mother is reported to have said, ‘Send my son home from Germany first.’ "
—From Our Treasures, A Celebration of Nebraska’s Mexican Heritage by Dr. Emilia González-Clements
In the early 1900s, Mexicans migrated to Nebraska in large numbers for many reasons. Some left Mexico to escape the Mexican Revolution. Some came here to better their economic condition. Nebraska offered work in the ... Read more
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"It was something different to see minority people. . . . their presence was a little uncomfortable for some residents in the community."
—Elaine Hatten, Hastings, NE
Rick Wallace interviews Willie Trip about his experiences at the Hastings Naval Ammunition Depot during World War II. An NET Television’s THE WAR: NEBRASKA STORIES interstitial,excerpted from NET Television’s series, Next Exit. Courtesy 2007 NET Foundation for Television
Racism was a serious problem in World War II. The defense factories needed more workers than small towns ... Read more
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One horrible by-product of war is that crimes against humanity sometimes occur away from the battlefields. A very sad example was the creation of concentration camps by Adolph Hitler’s National Socialist political party. Racist, nationalistic, imperialistic, anti-communist, and militaristic, the "Nazis" claimed that Jewish people were members of an "inferior race".
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At first, SAC had airplanes with nuclear bombs. Their mission was to discourage another nation from attacking the U.S. by being ready to deliver a massive nuclear attack. But it was clear that rockets were the emerging weapon of the future.
The reason was speed. Bombers fly ... Read more
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"My Aunt Rose was listening to the radio, and I wasn’t paying much attention until they kept hearing the word ’war’. . . . I had never heard that word before, so finally I got up there and said, ’Well, what is it? What is it?’ They tried to explain to me what war was, and I was appalled! Because up until then, I thought all the grown-ups knew what they were doing, and I could not believe that grown-ups ... Read more
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The David City Bank failed in 1984. It was the 55th commercial bank in the United States to fail that year. In this case, the Nebraska State Banking Director declared that the bank was no longer solvent. The bank’s assets were turned over to the FDIC, which began to liquidate the assets of the loans.
Farmers in the surrounding area were facing a new crisis with the failure. Borrowers were sure that there would be foreclosures, and that farmers would be ... Read more
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Within days of the declaration of war, troops began to move across the country, on their way to the front lines. In many ... Read more
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"I remember once in a difficult part of the war that these MPs made the patients (German prisoners of war) think that they were not going to give them food from the carts. . . . I cried and said, ‘Oh, you can’t deprive them.’ This (guard) said, ‘Oh, we’re just kidding.’ But I know they weren’t. They were angry with the Germans."
—Barbara Gier, Seward, NE
Nurse, 203 General Hospital in Paris
World War II lasted over three and a half years ... Read more
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What was it like to fly a bomber with atomic weapons on board? What was it like to know your mission was to kill thousands and even hundreds of thousands of civilians?
Much is demanded of the SAC atom-bomber crews. Their lives are something new in military history. For the first time in peacetime, SAC bomber crews were prepared to fly their missions at a moment’s notice. SAC commanders had to be constantly available; before the era of cell phones, they ... Read more
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During the Cold War, military planners assumed that the Soviet Union might start a nuclear war at any time. Initially, the attack would have come from bombers flying over the North Pole, which is the shortest route between Russia and the U.S. SAC built a string of radar stations across Alaska, Canada and Scotland to provide about one hour of warning. Then ICBMs — Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles that could fly from continent to continent in minutes — were developed, and ... Read more
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During World War II, there were shortages of many items across the U.S. because certain supplies were needed for the war. Civilians (people who were not in the military) had to do without some products.
Nebraska’s greatest contribution to winning the war was in food production. Even Nebraska families who did not live in rural areas got involved with the nationwide "Victory Garden" program. Nebraskans were encouraged to plant gardens to help ease the food shortage. Almost half of all vegetables ... Read more
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When Gen. Curtis E. LeMay became commander of the Strategic Air Command in 1948 he was appalled at the lack of professionalism in his bomber crews. LeMay rebuilt SAC and, in the process, presided over a huge change in the life of Omaha and Bellevue.
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Concerns about nuclear war also had an effect on government. There was a rush in the 1950s and 60s to provide shelters for governmental agencies and bodies.
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By the 1980s, the situation in agriculture was worse. At least a third of Nebraska farmers were in danger of loosing their farms. Banks were foreclosing on loans to farmers, and auctions were increasing, selling off ... Read more
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On September 18, 1945, the last of 531 Omaha-produced B-29s rolled out of the final assembly hall of the Martin Plant. On April 1, 1946, the Martin Company’s last 100 workers left the plant. The bomber plant was used for storage of machine tools from 1946 to 1948. Fort Crook, which was where the ... Read more
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Former Nebraska Gov. Val Peterson was head of the Federal Civil Defense Administration when he warned citizens against the dangers of massive fallout from the hydrogen bomb.
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Television, more than anything else, changed the way Nebraskans viewed the world and spent their free time. As more and more television sets were purchased, the entire country could watch the same event or entertainment show. ... Read more
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Did farm homes in Nebraska need fallout shelters, even if they were located far away from the supposed targets of nuclear bombs?
"Shelters make good sense," declared Mrs. Lorraine Still, Custer County home agent, "even though farm families may live hundreds of miles from military targets or large population centers." In ... Read more
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After World War II, South Omaha’s stockyards and packing houses were caught up in a postwar hunger for beef. In 1949, the ... Read more
