Honours for last Rosie the Riveter

Elinor Otto was in her 20s when she picked up a riveting gun for the first time at Rohr Aircraft Corp. in Chula Vista, California, during World War II.

One of the original Rosie the Riveters, Otto, now 98, returned for the first time over the weekend to the place where she began her nearly 70-year career on the aircraft production line.

‘‘Walking in there, 73 years (later), it brought back a lot of nostalgia,’’ said Otto, who lives in Long Beach.

The company now operates as a subsidiary of UTC Aerospace Systems. Even though the plant was much changed, Otto’s visit evoked memories of carpooling to work from her home in San Diego, working on the assembly line alongside her sister, and the tunes that were broadcast over a loudspeaker, like Vera Lynn’s You’ll Never Know or Frank Loesser’s Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition. Otto would go on to work for Ryan Aeronautical Co. in San Diego, and then Douglas Aircraft Company, which merged with McDonnell Aircraft before it became Boeing. She worked until she was 95, when she was laid off in 2014, and she makes it clear she did not voluntarily retire.

Otto’s trip to Chula Vista coincided with Spirit of ’45 Day, which was celebrated on Sunday and honours the legacy of men and women of the World War II generation.

The trip also served as an effort to plant the idea of a Rosie the Riveter memorial rose garden in Chula Vista to honor the women who took on the jobs left behind by men who served in the war.

The idea was wellreceived by Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas.

‘‘I think that’s something that we should do to honor and respect these wonderful women, because that generation is passing and yet we shouldn’t forget the foundation that they built for us,’’ said Salas, whose mother worked as a spot welder at Rohr in the 1940s.

Salas said her mother, now 94, attributes the middle-class life they were afforded to her job at Rohr.

During a gathering at a retirement community, Otto joined dozens of residents for lunch in the cafeteria. Many residents thanked her for her important work during the war. - TNS

TNS While holding her original riveting gun and a photo of herself at age 22, Elinor Otto, 98, known as the ‘‘Last Rosie the Riveter,’’ poses for pictures with Pin-ups for Vets, female vets and active duty service members wearing 1940’s period clothing, as Otto visits the Veterans Home of California-Chula Vista.