On Labor Day weekend, a patriotic ceremony was held in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and in at least 50 locations across the country to honor women's contributions to World War II.

A bell that was rung at the Sunday church service in the cathedral served as a preview of the Labor Day event, which was billed as "Ring a Bell for Rosie."The ceremonies honored the millions of female riveters, now in their 80s and 90s, who worked manual labor jobs to support the troops during World War II.This was a unified time in America. Everyone - including young children collecting scrap metal, newspapers, tin foil and rubber, pulled together to help the war effort.It was also a time when women left their homes to serve in factories. Between 1940 and 1945, the female percentage of the U.S. workforce increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent, and by 1945 nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home.The need for female workers became a national effort at the outset of the war and was promoted in movies, newspapers, posters, photographs and articles. The prototype image for Rosie the Riveter, created in 1942, was a poster for the Westinghouse power company under the headline "We Can Do It!" A popular song titled "Rosie the Riveter" appeared early in 1943.One of the most iconic images was done by the artist Norman Rockwell. Appearing on the May 29, 1943, cover of The Saturday Evening Post, it shows Rosie with a flag in the background and a copy of Adolf Hitler's racist tract "Mein Kampf" under her feet.Although women worked in many different areas during World War II, the greatest increase in female workers came in the aviation industry. In 1943, more than 310,000 women worked in the U.S. aircraft industry, which was 65 percent of the industry's total workforce. Before the war, the total was just one percent.Last week, I was thrilled to receive a personal photo from a grand lady in Terre Haute, Indiana, who I got to know as a friend at the Southwest Florida Military Museum. The picture shows Muriel Goodly Jones, now 92, with a broad smile. Smartly dressed in red, white and blue colors, she holds a bell in her right hand, which she rang to honor all Rosies across the nation.Muriel, who hailed from Henderson, Kentucky, began working for Republic Aviation Corporation in Evansville, Indiana, at the age of 17. Working the 12-hour night shift, she riveted the main fuel tanks on the P-47 Thunderbolt.Her partner on the line - the one holding the sheet metal while she riveted - was Harley Robert Jones, who hailed from the coal mine town of Shelburn.After the war they married and raised a family of sons.Muriel remembers the war years as a simpler time when everyone pulled together."You were lucky if you had a phone and could drive," she recalls.Although it's been 75 years, Muriel still has vivid memories of her life as a teenage working girl at Republic Aviation. She didn't mind the overnight shift, although she says it was difficult for a teenage girl to sleep in the daytime.Like many young girls, she had a memory book filled with the autographs of her friends at the plant. Muriel was paid 70 cents an hour when she started and was making 75 cents at the time her work ended at the plant. But the personal satisfaction of helping pull the nation through a costly world war can't be measured.She will never forget the announcement that came over the plant intercom that meant her working days at the plant were over."The machines stopped, and at that moment, when we knew that the war was over, we all celebrated," she recalls. "I loved working, but I knew this meant our boys were coming home."By Jim Zbick |

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