Helen Lyson, 90, joins Rosie the Riveters on flight to Washington

Helen Lyson, 90, chaperoned by her daughter Jane Vesche, joined 42 other Rosie the Riveters in an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. on March 22.
Lyson said that morning the 43 Rosies, their escorts, and more than 62 members of the media flew out of Metro Airport on a Delta flight.
Lyson was one of the original Rosie the Riveters, women who worked the factories during World War II, producing munitions and war supplies critical to an Allied victory.
It was part of Women’s History Month and U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell (MI-12) and Candice Miller (MI-10) welcomed them to Washington, D.C.
“It was a tremendous honor to be able to welcome dozens of ‘Original Rosies’ to our nation’s capital to honor them for their selfless service during World War II,” Dingell and Miller said in a joint statement.
“These women are true trailblazers who stepped up during one of the most turbulent times in our nation’s history to build planes, tanks and other necessities for the war effort and forever redefined the role of women in the workplace. We will always be thankful for their strength and gusto, which was integral to getting a tough job done, and their unwavering American spirit, which continues to inspire us all.”
The Honor Flight, made possible by the Ford Motor Company Fund and the Yankee Air Museum, in partnership with Talons Out Honor Flight, brought the “Original Rosies” from the Detroit area to honor and celebrate them and their lasting contributions to this country.
The day included visits to the World War II Memorial, the Women in Military Service Memorial and a luncheon on Capitol Hill at the Library of Congress. A group picture was taken in front of the Capitol.
Lyson said they also went to a changing of the guard at Arlington Cemetery.
“They wouldn’t let us walk and we were all pushed around in wheelchairs,” Lyson said, adding she will be 91 in August and still drives her own car. She doesn’t need a wheelchair at home.
Three years ago, Lyson moved from Belleville to the Pines Senior Apartments in Chelsea, where everything is convenient and she is close to her son in Grass Lake.
She was born in Poland and was two years old when her parents came to 40 acres on Haggerty Road in Sumpter Township, now the site of Crosswinds Marsh.
She walked a mile and a half to school, but never went to high school because there were no buses in that area of the township. She was the youngest of five children.
“I was living with my parents and desperately needing work,” Lyson recalled, saying she applied and was hired at Willow Run Bomber Plant. She first attached hoses to engines and then worked on the outer wing, attaching ribs with clamps before the wing proceeded to riveting.
She worked at Willow Run for two years. She said her parents were struggling with earning a living by farming and she gave them all her pay, except for the $25 War Bond she bought every month. She said her brother Felix Kotlarczyk, who was fighting in Germany, died recently at age 92.
Lyson said her parents were able to get electricity installed and to pay off the mortgage. She said before that they lived on the farm for 15 years without electricity. As soon as they got electricity, they bought a Maytag washer and a Kelvinator refrigerator.
She got rides to work with people. She said gas was rationed in those days and she paid her driver $2 a week for rides to and from work. Her pay was $1.10 an hour in cash, paid every two weeks.
Lyson said she belongs to the Rosie the Riveter group and they contacted her daughter about the flight. She said Congresswoman Dingell got it going.