A Family Effort
After migrating from the Midwest to Portland, Oregon, fifteen members of the family of John R. Brauckmiller (sixth from left) found jobs at Henry Kaiser’s Swan Island shipyard. From 1943 to 1945, the shipyard turned out 152 T-2 Tankers, mostly for use by the U.S. Navy to carry fuel oil. A local newspaper pronounced the Brauckmillers as “the shipbuildingest family in America,” and because of the importance of shipbuilding to the war effort, Life magazine featured the family in its issue of August 16, 1943. Ralph Vincent, The Journal, Portland, Oregon/Picture Research Consultants & Archives.