President Trump gave a 15-minute speech and declared Wilmington, North Carolina, as the nation's first World War II Heritage City. "With this designation, we proudly declare that we don't tear down the past, we celebrate our heroes. We cherish our history, we preserve our history and we build our future."
The North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, based in Wilmington, was the largest employer in the state during the war, with 23,000 workers at its peak and built almost 250 merchant ships (mostly Liberty Ships) for the war effort.
During the war, Wilmington was called "The Defense Capital of the State." The North Carolina General Assembly passed a resolution in 2017, asking the federal government to recognize Wilmington for its war contributions.
The city became a "wartime boomtown," with its population more than doubling in size.
Wilmington's strategic position and contributions made it a target for attack by German U-boats. Merchant ships were sunk off the entire Atlantic and Gulf coasts as well as off Wilmington. One German U-boat reportedly surfaced and fired its deck gun at a chemical plant near Fort Fisher, just south of the city.
Standing in front of the battleship USS North Carolina which fought in WW II, the president called it "an enduring symbol of American greatness."
--GreGen
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