Eighty years ago in 1945, transcribed as originally published in the Youngstown Vindicator:

“Youngstown industries help victory. District contributes men and material in steady flow. By George R. Reiss (Vindicator Industrial Editor).”

“The industrial Youngstown district has played a 125,000-worker role, a multi-billion dollar part in helping beat the Nazis to their knees.

“Grimly determined to win, the two valleys’ workmen and factories have made between $2,000,000,000 and $3,000,000,000 worth of war materials. They have contributed 30,000 to 35,000 fighting men, and they’ve turned in hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to pay for it all. They’ve supplied the men, the money, the munitions, the initiative and the will to win the first phase of the victory; and now they’re determined to keep on contributing men, money, munitions, initiative and will to complete the job.

“The industrial Youngstown district is one of the leading workshops of the arsenal of democracy, one of the main producers of war materials, and has had four years of intensive war production experience. The district began tooling up the moment war flared up in September 1939, with the invasion of Poland … and then went into high gear at the time of Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. It has produced war materials at top speed since that time.

“Steel represents the Youngstown district’s biggest war contribution. Since mid-summer of 1944 steel plants of the two valleys have produced an estimated 35,000,000 tons of steel ingots, at least 11 percent of the nation’s steel output total – and did it with smaller contributions from the federal government for new facilities and equipment than was obtained by virtually any other leading steel producing district. Steel production in the valley currently is running only a little under 1,000,000 tons a month.

“The biggest accomplishment of the steel industry here had been that it has been able to expand its production so enormously — with few new facilities and in face of sharp inroads into its supplies of competent help…. Another remarkable phase of the steel program here was how local steel companies were able to convert their strip rolling mills from the task of making lightweight material to making plates, a war ‘must.’

“The blast furnace companies — Shenango Furnace Co., Struthers Iron & Steel Co., and Pittsburgh Coke & Iron Corporation — helped a lot with their contributions of iron.

“An enormous and spectacular war job was done by industries other than the steel makers…. Some of these concerns had to convert virtually ‘100 percent’ from their normal products, making things entirely foreign to their previous experience. For example, General Fireproofing Co., which made steel office furniture and aluminum chairs, turned out parts and assemblies for

thousands of P-39 and P-63 planes for Russia and the United States armies, as well as assemblies for P-47 Thunderbolts and the famed Curtiss-Wright Hell Divers.

“Truscon Steel Co. had only one percent of its facilities still making materials similar to its normal peacetime production. It made aircraft, ships, tank treads, airplane landing mats. Commercial Shearing & Stamping Co. made air bombs, portable steel bridges, and numerous other things…. Among war material made here are explosives, bombs, steel pipe, tanks, airplane parts, anti-aircraft guns and gun mounts, electrical systems for planes and vehicles, military clothing, machine gun parts, armor piercing bullets, trench mortars, welding machines, tool kits for vehicles, aircraft hangars, airplane droppable fuel tanks, radio towers, and innumerable other war materials.”

Compiled from the Youngstown Vindicator by Dante Bernard, Mahoning Valley Historical Society Museum educator.