Class of ’42

It was preordained, literally before the bombs even started falling: The good guys were going to win this one. A lifetime later, historians still emphasize the fundamental truth that there was no way, no conceivable possibility, that the Axis aggressors would come out of World War II victorious. The reason is that, despite all the horrific destruction and bloodletting, the Allies had one weapon in their arsenal that could never be outgunned. It was the sheer economic might of the United States, the world’s most powerful industrial behemoth, and its workforce of millions. The people in the foundries, stamping plants, and on the assembly lines of America were patriots, committed to freedom, fully cognizant of the menace confronting the world. Our allies were desperately dialing 9-1-1, seeking weapons and everything associated with them.

And the American auto industry delivered the goods. In one motion, it transformed itself from an anchor of the civilian economy to a juggernaut building hugely complex war