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Born: 1923
Duties on the home front: Left Albia to work at Maytag's Newton plant in1943. Harrison made parts for B-26 Marauder Bomber exhaust systems.
"...we thought it would be a good idea for us to do something too while we could and the money was good."
Background:
Maytag was one of the Iowa firms that stopped producing consumer goods and started making war supplies. In 1943, 19 year-old Hollys "Pat" Harrison from Albia, formerly Hollys Tarbell, had been working for a local dentist taking care of domestic chores. Harrison saw a newspaper advertisement placed by the Maytag Company in Newton and applied for a job.
Transcript
Maytag was one of the Iowa firms that stopped producing consumer goods and started making war supplies. In 1943, 19 year-old Hollys "Pat" Harrison from Albia, formerly Hollys Tarbell, had been working for a local dentist taking care of domestic chores. Harrison saw a newspaper advertisement placed by the Maytag Company in Newton.
(Hollys "Pat" Harrison) All the guys were doing something, they were fighting, going to service, enlisting and what have you, that we knew and we thought it would be a good idea for us to do something too, while we could and the money was good.
The company, famous for its clothes washers, started making air craft parts. Harrison was hired to make exhaust systems for B 26 Marauder Bombers. To help finance the creation of war goods, the government began to offer bonds. The investment strategy was not lost on Maytag employees together they purchased a B 26 Marauder for the war effort.
Links
Iowa's WWII Stories: Home Front Interviews
www.iptv.org/video/browse.cfm/tag/home%20front
Iowans who were at home had major roles to play in winning the war. Their sacrifice helped determine what kind of conditions, both political and social, would exist once the war was over.
Iowa's WWII Stories: Battlefront Interviews
www.iptv.org/video/browse.cfm/tag/battlefront
More than 276,000 Iowans went into military service during World War II. 8,398 never returned. Iowa Public Television brings you the stories of a few Iowans that did return from the battlefront.
