McDonough Honors Rosie The Riveters For Their Efforts During World War II
Women Stepped Up and Delivered When the United States Needed Them the Most

Assemblyman McDonough and Mary Sparacino-Larsen, one of 62 women honored during the event held at the American Air Power Museum at Republic Airport. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, Mary was ready to enlist in the Army, but being under twenty-one she needed her parents' permission, and her father would not allow her to enlist. She felt very strongly that she had to do her part for her country so Mary applied with Republic Aircraft where she was trained as a bench mechanic working on the P-47 Thunderbolt.

Assemblyman David G. McDonough (R,C,I-Merrick) and his Assembly minority colleagues honored women from across Long Island who, during World War II, supported the war effort by joining the American workforce in manufacturing plants that produced munitions, tanks, planes, ships and materials needed to support our troops serving overseas.

"Without their sacrifice and efforts on the home front our troops serving in the Pacific and Europe would not have been adequately supplied. Having served in the military, I know the effort needed to sustain our military, and all the Rosies stepped up when our country needed them the most," said Assemblyman McDonough. "It is a great pleasure to recognize all the women who did their part during the war."

The women who became known as Rosie the Riveters, were immortalized by posters supporting the war effort, helping to recruit more than six million women to join the American war effort on the home front between December 1941 and early 1944. Rosie became a cultural and feminist icon and was the result of the most successful advertising recruitment in American history.