[carefree, uplifting guitar]
N- Moving into the 20th century,
Beloit's varied industries
became ingrained in the community,
providing jobs for generations of Beloit residents.
- Pat Bussie: My dad worked at Fairbanks.
My mother had worked there part-time.
And when I left high school, my dad says,
"Why don't you go try
an apprenticeship program at Fairbanks?"
I worked with people that worked here during World War II.
I was inquisitive.
So, I got all these stories from all these people.
They said they'd work seven days a week, three shifts,
and we were upwards of 7,000 people
at Fairbanks during that time.
- Archival Footage: Pearl Harbor, December the 7th, 1941.
[dramatic music, flames roaring]
[patriotic military march with snare drums]
- In 1941, Beloit residents and Beloit College students
left Wisconsin to join the war.
[missiles soaring]
Beloit's industries, including Fairbanks Morse,
were well positioned to shift their production
in support of the war.
- Pat Bussie: So, Fairbanks has had highs and lows,
and I would say the highest was probably during World War II,
no doubt.
It was the Navy that came to us and said,
"Hey, this engine you've designed for locomotives
would be perfect to put inside a submarine."
So, we built engines for the Navy
that went to submarines.
They went to aircraft carriers.
They went to surface ships and other fleet vehicles.
Right after Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy came in,
and they built a massive building
on our northeast side of our campus.
- With the Navy's expansion of the Fairbanks Morse campus
also came patriotic signage.
Walking through the Fairbanks gates,
employees were reminded of Ntheir contributions to the war.
- Pat Bussie: When you come in here during World War II,
and you're working at Fairbanks Morse,
the feeling was immense pride.
They weren't out fighting the war,
but they felt that their contributions
were so important here
that everyone was just all working together.
Everybody produced things as quickly as we can
because it makes a difference.
- Across the nation, nwomen stepped into factory jobs
left empty by servicemen.
In Beloit, women of all ages were answering the call
for industrial work.
- Fung Scholz: When I graduated high school,
I went and worked at Fairbanks.
I worked in the Navy building,
and they called me a Navy inspector
because I would go around and inspect the welds
on these blocks of the engines.
Working during wartime
made me feel like I was really contributing
to the war effort.
And everybody that was working in the shops felt the same way.
I just did it for the summer
because that fall, I went into nurses' training.
They needed more nurses to fill in the staffs at the hospital
because the nurses that did join the service
were automatically commissioned as second lieutenants.
So, this drew the nurses into the service.
[triumphant march] - Archival Footage: He wanted to give them
the highest honor that can be paid
to any industrial establishment in America:
The Army and Navy "E" for Excellence, generally...
- Recognizing the contributions to victory
made by everyday Americans on the production line,
the military awarded five percent of manufacturers nationwide
with a prestigious award:
the Army and Navy "E" for Excellence.
Several Beloit industries earned this honor,
including Beloit Iron Works, Gardner Machine Company,
and Fairbanks Morse.
These industries weren't the only organizations
supporting the war.
Beloit's "College on the Hill"
also shifted its focus during wartime.
- Fred Burwell: Looking at the college and the city,
the war affected both in vast ways.
The city, of course,
many men went off to fight in the war.
And some of those men
were also Beloit College alumni and students.
And if they looked up the hill
at the college,
they'd see a very different student body
than just a few years earlier
because most of the men were gone fighting.
- Women made up
the majority of students at Beloit College
during these early war years.
However, the campus did not remain free of men for long.
[military march]
- Fred Burwell: The Army Air Corps
that trained... Beloit College campus,
and lived here for a few years,
was the 95th College Training Detachment.
They took some college classes;
they had military classes.
They lived in the dormitories.
And some actually trained at Fairbanks Morse.
All the armed forces branches wanted trained men to lead
and a college education,
a good strong background in reading and writing,
and critical thinking,
all that could be very important
to an officer and even to an enlisted man.
So, there was a relationship
between the college and the city to see the war through.
- Archival Footage: ...Times Square.
It's official! It's all over.
It's total victory. [cheering]
- The Beloit community joined in global celebration
when victory arrived in 1945,
and many felt the gravity of the end of the war.
[classical orchestra music]
At that time, the Delaney family
was one of the largest Beloit families.
Of their twenty children,
five sons served during World War II.
Youngsters at the time, Ron and Gary Delaney,
remember feeling inspired by their uncles' service.
- Gary Delaney: Elvin, he got the Purple Heart
because he was actually killed.
That was given to my grandma for Elvin.
They said that, you know,
they were proud to serve the country
and to keep everybody over here free.
- Ron Delaney: We were just proud to have heard
that all of them got to serve.
And that's why we both served.
- Gary Delaney: My mom put me in a sailor outfit,
and I went in the Army.
[brothers chuckling]
When I was in high school, I was in the ROTC.
Well, that naturally led me towards the Army.
And having the backing of the family
that had so many people in the service,
the thing that I enjoyed was the fact
that I knew I was defending this country.
- Ron Delaney: I was in the Navy.
And the ship that I was on had a Fairbanks motor in it.
It was pretty impressive, really,
to have a Fairbanks Morse engine right behind me
and standing watch on it.
- Following the end of the war in 1945,
Beloit thrived with booming industry,
a busy downtown,
and a renewed community spirit.
Families enjoyed recreational activities again.
The Delaney family was known for their ice-skating shows.
[opulent big band music]
- Ron Delaney: Mom and Dad put on quite a few shows,
and they put them on at the lagoon.
That was just a good thing to be involved in.
[swish, clack]
The entertainment and the laughter,
the hands we got,
and thinking we were something a little special.
- Gary Delaney: I think this is a good thing that Beloit had.
It brought families together.
- Ron Delaney: The river was a big playground to us really,
and we just enjoyed the heck out of it.
- Beloit moved towards the second half of the century
with a renewed sense of pride and hope.
[extravagant crooner music]