In the News

When Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 7, 1941 and brought the United States into World War II, Ann Bjorneby and a couple of her girlfriends wanted to do their part to help with the war effort.

But living in the small town of North Buena Vista, Iowa meant no real opportunities to contribute. So the group put the names of three big cities — St. Louis, Detroit and Omaha, Neb. — into a hat and took turns drawing the city names. Two of them drew Omaha.

“That meant we were going to Omaha,” Bjorneby said.

Once in Omaha, she studied to be a mechanic and began working at a U.S. Army plant.

“I became a grease monkey,” she said.