DENMARK -- A Denmark farmer was one of the Midwesterners who worked at the Willow Run plant near Ypsilanti, Mich., producing B-24 bombers prior to World War II. The plant is featured in Ken Burns' "The War" documentary which is currently being aired on S.C. ETV.

The rumor was that when President Franklin D. Roosevelt was faced with the need for an Air Force for World War II as quickly as possible, he worked out an airplane production plan with Henry Ford. Willow Run was selected to be the hub of this miraculous team that eventually turned out a plane an hour.

"I was 18 and looking for a job," Denmark's Bill Terry says. "My family had been a part of the Great Depression like so many others. When the word came that Willow Run was hiring, I began an occupation there that was to follow me throughout my life."

The first plane that came off the Willow Run assembly line was 90 pounds over what it was suppose to weigh, Terry recalls.

"There had been so many additions to the original plans that the extras had cost the production pounds. The engineers soon fixed this problem, and eventually there were planes turned out in less than two hours, or 40 a day," he said. "There were millions of parts in this type of B-24 plane."

The 464 Bomb Group labeled the B-24 "short, fat and 4F," according to a brochure on the series of B-24 plane produced.

Terry said the surrounding towns around the plant were crowded.

"I rented a room near Ann Arbor that was really a porch with glass windows on the side," he said. "Many homes had rented spaces to the influx of workers. The room was quite spartan."

Labor was short, and women became the driving force behind the production.

"My mother applied for a job at Willow Run and became a riveter. I remember the day she announced she had the job and modeled the required slacks uniform and the scarf covering her hair," Terry said. "The whole family was aghast. Women just didn't wear pants."

All of the employees had to be trained for the work in the plant. It was like nothing most had ever done, he said.

"I remember one day I was working on a part with what I thought was an appropriate tool. Mr. (Henry) Ford was going down the line encouraging some of the men, and when he got to me, he said, 'That is the wrong file, boy. What you should use is a bastard file for that job.' I never have forgotten that brisk reprimand," Terry said.

Much of his training was in welding.

"We had the best equipment and were expected to turn out flawless work. Even with the shortage of labor, those who did not meet expectations were let go or moved to another part of the plant," Terry said.

As production increased, Terry said, he was assigned to the "rather boring job" of filling up the planes to roll off the line. Thousands of gallons of airplane gas were pumped into each plane, he said.

"Like so many men, the day we heard the news that Pearl Harbor had been bombed and the president had declared war, I hurried to sign up," Terry said. "We all thought the war might be over before we got into the fight. I was a skinny kid, and the Marines had second thoughts about taking me. But, in the end, I did become a Marine."

After graduating from boot camp in San Diego, Terry went to Guam, the stopping-off point for planes needing repairs before battling the Japanese.

"My welding skills from Willow Run came into play, and patching up planes was my assignment," Terry said. "We lived in tents without air conditioning, TV or e-mail. And, definitively no MacDonald's. Our e-mail was in the form of letters called V-Mail."

While families wrote their servicemen and women weekly, the letters didn't catch up with the military for weeks at a time, and some were lost, Terry said.

Finally, the Japanese surrender came, and Terry was discharged.

"I remember sending a telegram to my mother in Standish, Michigan, where my father was working, to let her know when I would arrive by bus in that little town. We didn't phone in those days, and we didn't fly," Terry said. "You were discharged from your base, and from there it was up to you. Mother met the bus, and we walked home with me carrying my suitcase. She had fried chicken for my welcome-home dinner. So much for the parades that veterans seem to feel is necessary today."

Like so many military men and women, Terry took advantage of the GI Bill. He entered Michigan State College and earned a master's degree in 1951.

Terry said he is still using many of the skills on his Denmark farm that he learned both in the military and at the famous Willow Run.

T&D Correspondent Bettylou R. Terry can be reached by phone at 803-793-3381. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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