Rosies Reunite: WWII Women Workers Honored on D-Day Anniversary at National Museum

NEW ORLEANS — As the nation paused to mark 82 years since the D-Day invasion that began the liberation of Nazi-occupied France, more than 30 women who helped power the Allied victory from American factory floors gathered Saturday at The National WWII Museum to receive recognition long overdue.

The women—surviving members of the generation popularly known as "Rosie the Riveters"—were honored as recipients of the museum's 2026 American Spirit Award, the institution's highest distinction. The ceremony coincided with the museum's annual Dr. Hal Baumgarten D-Day Commemoration, linking their industrial contributions to the historic military operation that involved more than 150,000 troops on June 6, 1944.

"When men left for military service, labor shortages in defense-related industries created unprecedented opportunities for women, many of whom were entering the workforce for the very first time," museum officials noted. "The women on the home front played an essential role in making Allied victory possible."

Among those celebrated was Delphine Klaput, 101, who worked at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft factory in Baltimore during the war's final years. Trusted with guarding aircraft blueprints and overseeing teams constructing planes bound for overseas deployment, Klaput recalled the weight of that responsibility.

"There was a war on, after all," she told NOLA.com.

Growing up in a Pennsylvania coal-mining town, Klaput said she still remembers walking through the sprawling factory and asking herself a simple question: "What did I get myself into?"

Also honored was Francesca Masters, 104, who operated heavy machinery at Michigan's Willow Run plant, one of the largest war factories in the world during the conflict. Masters helped assemble B-24 Liberator bombers while earning $1 an hour—a wage she sent largely home to support her family. Her brother, Salvatore, was later killed during the Battle of the Bulge.

"It was our duty," Masters said, reflecting on her service with quiet pride.

Virginia Rusch, another honoree, dropped out of school specifically to contribute to the war effort. From 1942 to 1944, she spent her days soldering airplane parts on an assembly line, performing the same repetitive task as Allied forces fought overseas. Her daughter, Lisa Brown, noted that the women rarely viewed their work as remarkable.

"They truly didn't think they had done anything special," Brown said.

The museum emphasized that the Rosies' legacy extends far beyond wartime production numbers. Through their labor, these women fundamentally reshaped women's place in American society and continue inspiring generations around the world.

As the ceremony concluded, Klaput reflected on the unshakeable bond connecting the shrinking number of surviving Rosies.

"No matter where you go, if there's a 'Rosie,' you're gonna see this," she said, reaching for the hands of fellow honorees.

Then she repeated the phrase that became synonymous with the women who sustained America's wartime production effort.

"We can do it."

This year's American Spirit Award also recognized acclaimed composer John Williams and former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason for their respective contributions to American culture and advocacy.