SoCal WWII vet who helped build planes as part of ‘Rosie the Riveter’ team celebrates 100th birthday

WHITTIER, Calif. (KABC) — She’s a century-old hero, a member of an all-female crew who worked at a Burbank aircraft plant during the second World War, playing a key role in America’s war effort.

Jennifer McMullen celebrated a huge milestone not many people achieve – her 100th birthday! Family and friends recently gathered to celebrate at Oakmont of Whittier to honor her remarkable life. She played a pivotal role in World War II as part of the iconic “Rosie the Riveter” movement.

“We worked on just sections of the airplane, a lot of wings,” said McMullen.

During the war, McMullen moved from Ohio to California, and at just 18 years old, she joined the war effort as a riveter. McMullen worked the graveyard shift with an all-female workforce at the Lockheed Aircraft Plant in Burbank.

“The interesting thing was that they had camouflaged the entire Lockheed plant with a tarp on top and it looked like a town because they painted fire hydrants and flowers to make it look real,” said McMullen. “And it was really us underneath the tarp, working away at the rivets.”

“She didn’t actually see the planes, she was a riveter and worked on a wing,” said McMullen’s son Timothy.

While McMullen worked on airplanes, her husband, Melvin, was serving overseas, flying in them as part of the all-volunteer group known as the “Flying Tigers”

“I was a nose turret gunner on a B-24 Bomber, and we were stationed in China and India,” he described.

The couple met after Melvin returned home from China. They’ve been together for the past 78 years. They say it’s family that has carried them through.

“We all get along. We don’t really have any friction in any of our family. Everybody is on the same page,” Melvin said.

McMullen agreed: “Here we are still happy, still healthy and 100 years old.”