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