my mother-in-law (nice lady, went to Heaven in ‘85) worked in a parachute factory during the war. came from the hills/mining areas of w. kentucky - madisonville/hopkinsville/earlington area (barnsley, unincorporated!)
highway 41, if i recall.
wife had vacations to kentucky lake as a kid.
we often wonder if we could muster the teamwork today they showed back then...
I have spent a lot of time in the area where your MIL grew up. The people there are extra special, and most very patriotic. Both my grandfathers were coal miners, one working in Harlan County, KY, the other in southwest Virginia, during WWII.
Both were recruited from the coal mines to work in a secret government project known as the Manhatten Project. Their contributions changed the world, and their (and their children’s)lives.
I attended the funeral last week of a dear friend/fishing partner who won a Silver Star in the pacific in WWII. It is so sad to lose this great generation, and we need to tell their stories as often as possible.