Montgomery in Montgomery County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
World War II ⎯⎯⎯ Defense Economy
Photographed by Mark Hilton, September 26, 2021
1. World War II Marker
Inscription.
World War II, also, Defense Economy. .
World War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Alabamians rushed to volunteer for military service. Citizens bought war bonds, received training in civil defense and d endured rationing. Industries converted to wartime production. Infantrymen, chemical warfare troops, and aviators, including the pioneering Tuskegee Airmen, trained at military bases across the state. Children collected scrap metal and paper to be recycled for the war effort. , More than 321,000 Alabamians served in uniform around the globe Some won distinction, including fourteen Medal of Honor recipients. Most simply served with bravery and determination, intent on winning the war and returning to their lives in Alabama. More than six thousand Alabamians died. Those who survived came home as heroes, changed both by combat and by exposure to new ideas, people, and places. , "We'll win this war...for winning the war means returning to home, and home and what it stands for is what we are fighting for." Lt. Charlie Beavers, Birmingham, writing from Italy, 1944,
Defense Economy. During the war, shipyards ordnance works, coal mines, iron furnaces, lumber mills, and textile mills expanded and operated around the clock., Birmingham, hit hard by the Depression rebounded to become the great arsenal of the South A massive influx of shipbuilding workers and troops made Mobile the most crowded pore city in the U.S. Even small towns bulged with workers who build and worked in critical wartime factories such as a gunpowder plant in Childersburg. , With so many men serving in uniform, women stepped in ta perforin industrial jobs traditionally not available to them, Although black workers faced discrimination in wartime plants, the need for more workers created new opportunities that challenged the status quo. , Among one hundred T-2 tankers built in Mobile was the SS Tule Canyon, launched on May 31, 1944, it was constructed by an all-black crew in 79 days, breaking all previous records for production in the shipyard.
World War II
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,
Alabamians rushed to volunteer for military service.
Citizens bought war bonds, received training in civil
defense and d endured rationing. Industries converted
to wartime production. Infantrymen, chemical warfare
troops, and aviators, including the pioneering Tuskegee
Airmen, trained at military bases across the state. Children
collected scrap metal and paper to be recycled for the
war effort.
More than 321,000 Alabamians served in uniform around
the globe Some won distinction, including fourteen Medal
of Honor recipients. Most simply served with bravery and
determination, intent on winning the war and returning to
their lives in Alabama. More than six thousand Alabamians
died. Those who survived came home as heroes, changed
both by combat and by exposure to new ideas, people,
and places.
"We'll win this war...for winning the war means returning
to home, and home and what it stands for is what we are
fighting for." Lt. Charlie Beavers, Birmingham, writing from Italy, 1944
Defense Economy
During the war, shipyards ordnance
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works, coal mines,
iron furnaces, lumber mills, and textile mills expanded and
operated around the clock.
Birmingham, hit hard by the Depression rebounded to
become the great arsenal of the South A massive influx
of shipbuilding workers and troops made Mobile the most
crowded pore city in the U.S. Even small towns bulged with
workers who build and worked in critical wartime factories
such as a gunpowder plant in Childersburg.
With so many men serving in uniform, women stepped in ta
perforin industrial jobs traditionally not available to them,
Although black workers faced discrimination in wartime
plants, the need for more workers created new opportunities
that challenged the status quo.
Among one hundred T-2 tankers built in Mobile was the
SS Tule Canyon, launched on May 31, 1944, it was
constructed by an all-black crew in 79 days, breaking all
previous records for production in the shipyard.
Erected 2019 by the Alabama Bicentennial Commission.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • War, World II. A significant historical date for this entry is May 31, 1944.
Location. 32° 22.633′ N,
Photographed by Mark Hilton, September 26, 2021
2. Defense Economy Marker
86° 18.105′ W. Marker is in Montgomery, Alabama, in Montgomery County. It can be reached from Dexter Avenue east of Decatur Street, on the right when traveling east. Located in Alabama Bicentennial Park in front of the Alabama Attorney General's Building. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 500 Dexter Ave, Montgomery AL 36130, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Alabama’s Tri-Counties River Region. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, and in the Black Belt. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Credits. This page was last revised on September 27, 2021. It was originally submitted on September 27, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 334 times since then and 40 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on September 27, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
