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YPSILANTITOWNSHIP The Willow Run Tea Party began a petition March 18 to ask the Michigan Legislature for funding for a memorial for the Willow Run Bomber Plant. To date theyve collected nearly 300 signatures, including those of some pretty significant state and local leaders from all sides of the political table.

This isnt a political thing. Its an American thing, said Timothy King, a member of the local Tea Party caucus. Im going to go to every mayor of every city all the way to Detroit to get support for this.

King, whose great uncle Barney Laney worked at the plant as a general superintendent, said that the memorial will honor everyone who worked in and has been touched by the Bomber Plant.

The Willow Run Bomber Plant was built by the Ford Motor Company in 1941 to streamline production of bomber planes for use in World War II using Ford's tried-and-true assembly line operation. During its peak, the plant employed over 40,000 men and women and pumped out one B-24 Liberator bomber every hour. It became known as the Arsenal of Democracy.

While the organization is working to put together a steering committee to deal with the administrative and planning process of installing a memorial, King said that theyre working hard to drum up wide-ranging support throughout southeast Michigan before taking the petition to the state legislature.

Dennis Moore, founder of the Willow Run Tea Party, said that theres no timeline on the petition or when theyre hoping to submit it to the state, but theyre looking for $2 million to build a sizeable memorial commemorating the Arsenal of Democracy.

The proclamation reads as follows:

Having placed this issue before our voting board, the Willow Run Tea Party Caucus is in support of a proclamation advising the Governor and the Legislature of Michigan to:

Propose, pursue and perform legislation delegating sufficient funding to a memorial dedicated to the contributions of the WILLOW RUN BOMBER PLANT (Ypsilanti, Michigan) and the B-24 Bomber to our freedom. This memorial would also remember all those who worked there as GUARDIANS OF THE SPIRIT OF AMERICAS LIBERATOR.

Signatures on the petition so far include members of the Ypsilanti City Council, the Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees, the Yankee Air Museum, the Ypsilanti Community Schools Board of Education as well as state senators and representatives, and some of the original Rosie the Riveters who worked at the Willow Run Bomber Plant. Continued...

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Local Tea Party caucus seeks to create memorial commemorating Willow Run Bomber Plant