Boeing surprises WWII 'Rosie': 'Rosie the Rocketeer' headed to space

Wearing a signature red polka dot bandanna and matching face mask, Rosie the Rocketeer will soon soar to the International Space Station, all thanks to the efforts of Levittown's Mae Krier.

Krier said she was "stunned, absolutely stunned" Monday morning when Boeing CEO David Calhoun announced the flight during an online Zoom meeting she had with Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and more than 100 Pennsbury School District eighth-graders and staff members.

The aeronautical company has named a robot Rosie and she'll fly in a Boeing Starliner capsule to the space station soon, Calhoun told the virtual gathering, giving credit to Krier for her work in promoting recognition for all the "Rosie the Riveters" who worked to support the military during the World War II, and for her work in fighting the pandemic by making face masks now.

Krier worked tirelessly for almost 40 years to get the Congressional Gold Medal for the Rosie the Riveters, the women who worked in factories and in other service to support the military fighting overseas during the 1940s. The House approved the bill in 2019 but, as she was trying to gain support for it in the Senate last year, the coronavirus pandemic struck, forcing Krier to retreat to her home in Bristol Township.

But there, at age 94, she started to make masks in the Rosie signature red polka dot fabric. Soon she had received 5,000 requests for them and her drive gained national attention. The Senate passed the bill awarding the Rosies the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor, in November and former President Donald Trump signed it into law in December.  

Boeing also will now send to the space station and to Krier its newly minted Rosie the Riveter coin in commemoration of the work of the women and to promote the study of STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — courses as it looks to the future.

The robot, commander of the unmanned capsule, "will be wearing your scarf and your mask ... We're very proud of that," Calhoun told Krier. "So for everything you do to continue the legacy of the Rosie the Riveters and to keep our communities safe, to keep them healthy, we are proud to present you with one of the coins in recognition of your service to our company and to our country.

" ... We hope this unique space flight helps to inspire the next generation that will lead us into the future of space travel."

Both Casey and Fitzpatrick, R-1 of Middletown, praised Krier's work promoting the Congressional Gold Medal for the Rosies.

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"We could not have won World War II without the efforts of these women," Casey said. "Mae Krier met with many members of Congress. She became an unpaid lobbyist for this very important bill."  

"They loved her," Fitzpatrick said of the reactions of other members to her efforts.

The recognition event was the second part of a Boeing presentation to the students in the Pennsbury School District during this year's Engineers Week.

District Superintendent William Gretzula praised the aeronautical company for becoming a Pennsbury partner through the efforts of Lara Flynn, a 2004 graduate who now works for Casey.

On Monday, the eighth-graders at all three of the district's middle schools watched and listened to the Zoom call where Krier told them about how she learned to use a rivet gun to build the B-17 and B-29 bombers during the war. 

Krier said that she was 17 when she, her sister and a girlfriend went to Seattle to work for Boeing making the bombers for a summer and decided to stay. 

"We all loved it. We stayed and became Rosies during the war.  It came easy to me, climbing in and out of those wings," she said.

She helped the company turn out the most planes it has ever built.

 More:Levittown’s original 'Rosie the Riveter' makes masks to promote, honor WWII work

Calhoun said he still marvels at the wartime production. He said his father — a paratrooper during the Normandy invasion — jumped out of one of the planes the Rosies built and would have been very proud to see him honor them. 

Krier, of Bristol Township, told the students after the war, when American companies had to retool their businesses for peacetime production, was a difficult era, and she reminded them that everything in life doesn't come easy — they will face challenges in their future but they should never give up. 

"Don't let a mistake stop you. Sometimes we learn more from our mistakes. Get back on the horse," she said.

In the first session with two Boeing engineers last week, the students learned the dynamics about flight. Several said they didn't realize all the forces involved. 

Pennwood Middle School student Shaun Blaney said he learned that being an engineer "consists of curiosity and being able to fix and correct things" while Arun Kannan, a student at William Penn Middle School said he learned just how complicated it is to make a plane.

 "I think it's a really cool field," he said. 

Fitzpatrick told the students that careers in the STEM fields are growing at a 17% rate compared to the rest of the economy at 9% and that students with degrees in these fields have higher salaries. He said he felt very inspired about the future of the STEM industry.  

Calhoun told the students that he was thrilled that Boeing is involved in the space program, especially now that the United States just put a rover on Mars, an engineering feat that even the late Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to walk on the moon, wasn't sure would have been possible.

"He couldn't fathom what it would take to do it and yet it's done," he said.

Casey concluded the program by reminding the students that they will be the leaders of the future. 

He told them that Krier told him an important reason why the Rosies accomplished so much was because they worked with honor and respect for those working with them and for their country.

"That's a lesson that all of us need to remember," Casey said.

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