For Makers of Military Goods, War Is Personal

EDITOR’S NOTE-- They make missiles and sunglasses, chemical suits and high-tech boots. On assembly lines and in laboratories, Americans create the accouterments of war. A special pride goes into these products: They are made in America, and they are made to save American lives.

Combat Boots

McRae Industries was founded 32 years ago to make kids’ shoes, but the company soon discovered there was more profit in war than in childhood.

They’ve been making combat boots since the early days of the Vietnam War at the Wadeville, N.C., plant, and now they’re helping fill an 872,000-pair order for the troops in the gulf.

As Brenda Gaines stitches boot parts, her thoughts turn to her son, Altoe Strong, deployed with the Army’s 1st Cavalry.

“I’m not thinking about him wearing these boots,” she said. “I’m thinking about him coming home alive.”

Gas Suits

Yellow bows dangle from the front doors at Camel Manufacturing, and a U.S. flag waves from the rafters. They remind those using the industrial sewing machines why they are here.

“We are making suits to protect our country,” said Cella Cody, who has spent the last year stitching together chemical warfare suits at the Newport, Tenn., plant, nestled near the Great Smoky Mountains.

The 200 workers turn out 500 of the camouflage suits a day. Several, like Veronica Ray, 22, have relatives in the war.

Her older brother, Dion, drives an Army tank somewhere in the desert of Saudi Arabia.

“I wish he would come home,” she said.

Sunglasses

In Richard Thayer’s office, there’s a map of the Middle East on the wall, three American flags on the file cabinet and a radio tuned to the latest news from the gulf.

He oversees sales and marketing for Randolph Engineering Inc., a small, private Holbrook, Mass., company that has been working overtime to fill the Defense Department’s order for 65,000 pairs of sunglasses.

“If you had glasses that were not distortion-free, you might not shoot at the right thing or land at the right spot,” Thayer said, referring to military pilots. “There’s no room for error at that speed.”

Inside the plant, posters show the glasses on an Air Force pilot. “We put a lot of pride into the work,” said Wolfgang Decker, 31, who heads the lens polishing shop and who served as a Navy reservist.

Missiles

The missiles they make in Middle America for the war in the Middle East bear names that bespeak speed and power: Hellfire, Stinger, Dragon, Copperhead. And of course, Patriot.

They are a source of great satisfaction for the 1,225 workers at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in Middletown, on the Mississippi River about 130 miles southeast of Des Moines.

The plant makes tank shells, mines and warheads for TOW, Hellfire, Stinger, Dragon, Copperhead and Hawk missiles. And for five years, they have been making Patriots, now proving their worth against Iraqi Scuds.

Said Personnel Manager Oakley Carlsen: “We put out what we think is the best there is.”