In my intellectual journey so far I have uncovered a lot of information. My biggest finds were about the factories that switched over from peacetime to wartime production. The Presto Company switched from making pressure cookers and other aluminum utensils to making artillery fuses, aerial bombs, and rocket fuses. The U.S. Rubber Company went from producing tires to making ammunition. I also want to cover agricultural production because their was a migration of workers from ag to mechanical work. I understand my question much better. I understand that Eau Claire played a nice role in wartime production. Both Factories received he “E” award from the Department of War for supreme production. Which is really cool. In my work I also researched about the men who served in the war but there are too many of them I cannot to a good research paper about them, but I did get some cool information on a couple of them that I want to mention though.

Initially, I wanted to go back to the archives to look at the World War II in the Chippewa Valley collection, but due to other class commitments I was unable to go to there today. So, I googled World War II in Eau Claire. The first site that came up was a local one. It was assembled by a local veteran of the war. It contains newspaper articles and other relevant news updates of every veteran from the Chippewa River Valley. Which was really cool. I also has group photos of some of the men who volunteered early in the war.

            The author Harold (Diz) Kronenberg has situated ethos. He flew 41 bombing missions over the European Theatre in B-17 bombers. He was the ball-turret gunner. If you don’t know what that is, it is a clear ball with two 50 caliber guns. The gunner has to roll up in a ball and get in it. Then he is lowered out the bottom of the plane. He then has to shoot the enemy from there. It is one of the most dangerous jobs on the plane. So he has a lot of invested interest in keeping the memory of the solders and the women who served in the nursing corp. alive.

            The site has more to it than just the soldiers. It also has some group photos of area soldiers. Which is really cool and I hope to use one as my banner. The site has an overview of the war. Telling from the end of WWI to the reconstruction of the axis powers. Another really cool aspect of the site is that it has stories of area organzations, like the Jaycees and Red Cross, helping the soldiers. Like the Jaycees sending Cigarettes to the soldiers and the Red Cross blood drives in Eau Claire.

            The author also has discussion topics on the site about things he experienced like the B-17, “buzzbombing”, insignias, mail, radar, sports, and War Games. These are firsthand accounts from an actual war hero. In the sports section, he told of his officer actually worked out with the Eau Claire Bears during his stay here. Diz, the author, played with the bears in the 1942 season before he was drafted.

            I really do believe the website is believable. It sites well and has true stories from the newspaper. I will take a lot from this site in my essay. One question I leave with here is what else did the nonprofit organizations help with the war effort?