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While West Virginians distinguished themselves overseas, mountaineers also did their part to support the war on the home front.
While the Army trained soldiers in Grant and Tucker counties and on Seneca Rocks (pictured) to scale European cliffs, the Navy prepared officers at West Virginia University and other schools across the state.
At the start of World War II, the U.S. government used the Greenbrier resort to hold Japanese, German, and Italian diplomats stuck in Washington. After seven months, they were traded for American diplomats overseas.In 1942, the Army turned the res...
To support the war effort, West Virginians reduced their purchases of certain products, such as items that used gas, steel, and aluminum. The government issued stamps and tokens to ration how much of certain products, such as tires, shoes, coffee,...
Many West Virginians, like Henry Dunfee (pictured) from Cabell County, grew Victory Gardens in their backyards. This helped make sure more food could go to soldiers fighting in the war.
West Virginia women played a big role in supporting the military by selling war bonds. The West Virginia Farm Women’s Club alone sold $288,997 in bonds and raised $15,464 for the Red Cross. Workers from Wheeling Steel (pictured) performed shows ac...
Children helped with the war effort by collecting old tires, scrap metal, and other hard-to-find materials as seen here in Grantsville (Calhoun County). Boy Scouts in Fayette County gathered 12 tons of paper in just 90 days!
Mountaineers supplied more than 600 million tons of coal during World War II. This coal was used to power factories, trains, battleships, and other equipment needed to support the war effort. Without this energy source, it would have been much har...
With Japan threatening supplies of natural rubber, President Franklin Roosevelt declared rubber a critical material. The government asked Union Carbide to find a way to make synthetic rubber. Within six months, Carbide had developed a process to t...
During World War II, all of the nylon used by the U.S. military came from chemicals made at the DuPont Belle Works (pictured) in Kanawha County. Nylon was important for making parachutes and shoelaces for soldiers.Belle also began making a new cle...
West Virginia's steel factories were working around the clock during World War II. The U.S. Naval Ordnance Plant in South Charleston (pictured) was the world’s largest plant for making steel gun barrels for battleships, tanks, and other military e...
During World War II, Marietta Manufacturing in Point Pleasant built ships for the military, including four Navy net tenders, 16 Army mine planters, and 53 Army landing tugs. At its busiest, the company had around 2,200 workers.In 1944, the plant w...
With more than 200,000 men serving in the military, women—who collectively became known as Rosie the Riveters—went to work in West Virginia factories. For instance, they filled the jobs of some 200 ship builders at Marietta Manufacturing in Point ...
Notable Military Figures: The World Wars
This Exhibit has 22 Sections
West Virginia Women in World War II
This Exhibit has 8 Sections