Press Releases: Northwest
August 15, 2005
Activities will honor World War II Home Front workforce during three-day America's Celebrate Freedom Salute
Kaiser Permanente to sponsor exhibits, family activities that teach kids about life during World War II
VANCOUVER, Wash. – They were ordinary men and women - some barely teenagers. When Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, they rose to defend their country not with guns but hammers, welding torches, and garden hoes. Thousands poured into Kaiser shipyards in the Northwest or Boeing aircraft plants around Puget Sound. Thousands more gave blood, rolled bandages, Ore. tended Victory Gardens. This August in Vancouver, they will be honored by Kaiser Permanente and the rest of America as the nation salutes what Tom Brokaw has called the Greatest Generation.
Five reunions honoring World War II-era Home Front workers and volunteers will be held during America's Celebrate Freedom Salute, Aug. 26-28 in Vancouver, Wash. The event is sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Defense to officially commemorate the 60th anniversary of World War II. Children and adults can learn about life on the Home Front by visiting the Kaiser Permanente-sponsored Home Front Tent during the three-day event, which takes place at the Vancouver National Historic Reserve.
Remember or learn about the war-time experience.
Drop by the Kaiser Permanente Home Front Tent at any time, Ore. during the following planned get-togethers:
| Friday, August 26: | |
| 1:30 p.m. | All World War II Kaiser shipyard workers |
| 3:30pm | All World War II—era nurses |
| 5:30pm | Workers and volunteers from voluntary service organizations, such as the American Red Cross |
| Saturday, August 27: | |
| 2:30pm | All World War II—era Boeing aircraft plant workers |
| Sunday, August 28: | |
| 10:30am | Women who served on the Home Front during World War II |
Learn about life in wartime America
Starting at 10 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 27, families are invited to participate in a special activity for children. Visiting seven stations throughout the Historic Reserve will give kids a chance to:
- Write their name in Navajo code talk
- Play the same games children played in the 1940s.
- Become a World War II plane spotter.
- Identify vegetables grown in a Victory Garden.
- Master marching and other boot camp skills.
- See an antique ambulance and learn how medicine has changed since the 1940s.
- Discover what women and girls did to help win the war.
Each child will get a passport - inspired by World War II ration books - that describes aspects of life on the Home Front. At all seven learning stations the children will have their passport stamped if they participate in a brief but fun educational activity. Receiving all seven stamps earns a child a coupon good for a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream treat. All reunions and children's activities are free and open to the public.
The Kaiser Permanente-sponsored Home Front commemoration will feature exhibits and entertainment from the era, including a live radio theater program, newsreels, and the only Northwest appearance of an exhibit on the life and accomplishments of industrialist Henry Kaiser. Specially adapted to highlight Kaiser's accomplishments in the Pacific Northwest, the "Henry J. Kaiser: Think Big" exhibit will include images from the three Kaiser shipyards on the Willamette and Columbia rivers. Those shipyards broke records building ships that were vital to the war effort. The exhibit is normally housed in the Oakland Museum of California.
Other events taking place Saturday during America's Celebrate Freedom Salute: An outdoor music concert starts at 7 p.m., followed by a huge fireworks extravaganza, all to pay special tribute to World War II veterans and Home Front workers.
Kaiser Permanente is a group practice health care organization founded in 1945 and serving more than 465,000 people in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington.
