Banner Staff Report
Loveada Baird of Logan was among those honored for their service during the World War II on March 29 in Charleston. Baird was one of the many women known as a “Rosie the Riveter.” The event coordinated by Anne Montague, the founder and director of the veterans support group Thanks! Plain and Simple, drew about 50 “Rosies” who will be featured in an upcoming segment on the Today Show.
Although there were jobs in many different areas that had to be done to free the men for military duty, the “Rosie the Riveter” name stuck and they were all grouped under that heading.
Baird was an electrician on what were called “Victory Ships” dry-docked in Baltimore, Md. She and the other electricians hauled the cabling and wired the ships from 3 p.m.-midnight and sometimes even into the early morning hours. Baird expresses her loyalty to her country was and still is very important to her, as is her love of West Virginia.
While the ladies were being interviewed, their proud families — including their “Rosebuds” (daughters) and “Riveters” (sons) — attended a screening of the West Virginia Rosie the Riveter Project’s 70-minute documentary entitled “We Pull Together — Rosie the Riveter Then and Now” in the historic La Belle Theatre. The day ended as everyone attended a lovely dinner at Angela’s On The River restaurant in St. Albans.
This segment with Ann Curry will be aired on the Today Show in August.
To learn more about Thanks! Plain And Simple, visit http://thanksplainandsimple.com/rosies
Also attending was Omar resident Gloria Farmer. Farmer was a riveter who worked on the B-24 airplanes.
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