By Bob Alvis, special to Aerotech News
Here in the Antelope Valley our aerospace industry has always hummed along, without much worry about the battles of the world being joined in the skies directly above where our citizens produce the products that keep us free, safe and well-defended.

Looking over some old documents in my Dad’s collection of World War II memorabilia, a Douglas Aircraft bulletin dated Feb. 25, 1942, caught my attention. After reading it, I realized I was looking at a document that addressed the famous battle of Los Angeles, when it was thought that Japan was attempting an air raid on a major American population and manufacturing center here on the West Coast.

The date is only two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. You can bet there were more than enough cases of war nerves among all the citizens on the West Coast of America.

Those who were working at Douglas that night, during blackout conditions with anti-aircraft guns and air raid sirens wailing, had much more on their minds then building airplanes.
Families and loved ones were under a sky of falling anti-aircraft shells and flak, with everyone wondering what the unknown invader was up to, but they continued on working. It was just what that generation would do.

Here is a copy of the Douglas bulletin, issued the day after the Feb. 24 incident:
 

After reading this, I was thinking to myself that this happened at the beginning of World War II and that four more years of sacrifice and hard labor were ahead, to give the American fighting man the tools he needed to free the world from the grip of a widespread insanity. They always say that it’s the front line troops that sacrifice the most, and that is pretty much a given, but I would always like to think of what we would do today if we were put in a similar situation. Maybe we should always give thanks that today, we in America do not have battles being waged over the roofs of our factories and our homes. Our Greatest Generation was just that and I sometimes wonder if we could measure up to their standards and perform under pressure with limited resources like they did. I guess my real wish is I hope we never have to find out!   

My Dad was working with Donald Douglas at the time of this bulletin, setting up C-47 production lines in El Segundo, Santa Monica, Long Beach and Tulsa, Okla. I tip my hat to him and all the factory workers that took Mr. Douglas’ recommendations and worked for the duration of the war to “keep them rolling and flying!”

Until next time, Bob out …