Traveling Tuesday: Connecticut Does its Bit

Traveling Tuesday: Connecticut Does its Bit

Source: Wikipedia

Despite being the third smallest state, Connecticut is geographically diverse, creating a variety of industry opportunities. With its location on the Long Island Sound as well as the Connecticut and Thames Rivers, the state also has a long maritime history. Originally settled by the Dutch, Connecticut became the fifth state of the union and is named for an Algonquin word meaning “long tidal river.”

Well-known for its housing of financial and insurance industry companies, Connecticut also hosts myriad companies who converted their production facilities to manufacture war materiel. The state produced approximately four percent of the country’s military armaments, putting it ninth on the list among the forty-eight states (remember, Alaska and Hawaii didn’t become states until 1959).

Colt manufactured firearms, Pratt & Whitney made aircraft engines, Chance Vought produced fighters planes, Hamilton Standard put out propellers and Electric Boat made submarines and PT boats. The E. Ingraham Company went from producing clocks and watches to anti-aircraft and artillery fuses. Textile companies stopped making wool dress coats in favor of producing pea coats for the military.

With the U.S. Coast Guard Academy located in New London, thousands of seamen were trained. In addition, there were several Naval, Army, and Army Air Force installations throughout the state.

Like other states, Connecticut saved its scrap, purchased war bonds, collected blood, and rolled bandages. Blackout curtains were installed, plane spotters volunteered, and air raid wardens walked their posts. Women joined the uniformed auxiliary services and went to work in the factories.

They also headed to the fields. The Women’s Land Army put about 20,000 Farmerettes to work during WWII. Mrs. Joseph Alsop reorganized the WLA in 1942 through of the University of Connecticut. Success was immediate. With only eight days notice, a group of 80 workers picked 50,000 quarts of strawberries. Vegetables were picked in Southington and apples in Litchfield.

A small state, but a big contribution. Have you ever visited Connecticut?

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A prostitute, a spy, and the liberation of Paris.

Sold by her parents to settle a debt, Rolande Bisset is forced into prostitution. Years later, shunned by her family and most of society, it’s the only way she knows how to subsist. When the Germans overrun Paris, she decides she’s had enough of evil men controlling her life and uses her wiles to obtain information for the Allied forces. Branded a collaborator, her life hangs in the balance. Then an American spy stumbles onto her doorstep. Is redemption within her grasp?

Simon Harlow is one of an elite corps of American soldiers. Regularly chosen for dangerous covert missions, he is tasked with infiltrating Paris to ascertain the Axis’s defenses. Nearly caught by German forces moments after arriving, he owes his life to the beautiful prostitute who claims she’s been waiting for the Allies to arrive. Her lifestyle goes against everything he believes in, but will she steal his heart during his quest to liberate her city?

Inspired by the biblical story of Rahab, Love’s Rescue is a tale of faith and hope during one of history’s darkest periods.

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