I got to meet Mary Torres, an original Rosie the Riveter as part of the Valor Games Far West closing ceremony. Turning 95 in a couple days, she sure did make me keep up with her from behind the lens! After Pearl Harbor, Mary left her home in Pennsylvania fresh out of high school...waiting for her parents to go to church so she could run away to California to help the war effort. She walked four miles to work her first month in Sacramento and survived on saltines and fallen roadside orchard oranges while she waited for her paycheck. Wanting to do more than be an inventory clerk she quickly moved to Oakland where she became a welder in a shipyard. A true inspiration if you ask me. . . . . . . . . #marytorres #rosietheriveter #badassat95 #marlakeownphotography #valorgamesfarwest #coastguardisland #taskforceiso #havecamerawilltravel #adaptivesports #wareffort #journeymanwelder #shipwelder #inspirationalwoman #wecandoit #wwii #wonderwoman #womenmakinghistory (at Coast Guard Island)
